Why I cook

Fishing

Panama's skyline from the Pacific

I’ve sorta stumbled my way through this entire process, I hope you’ll bear with me as I figure it all out. I’m blogging to document my hobbies: photography and cooking. These are 2 things I love and get lost in whenever I do them. But I also love sharing both of them with people in my life. Of course, the cooking part is easy, there’s never a shortage of willing taste-testers, photography…, is a different story. How many times can you ask your friends and family to go to your Flickr account and check out your photostream?

Anyway, most of the meals/recipes I will show you here are for Lindsay, my sweet hubby, and myself. We also love having friends over and feed them for putting up with us. I am a ‘ bit of this and a dash of that’ kinda cook, but promise to do my best to quantify recipes and provide you with measurements.

Being from Latin America and of black descent, my cooking thumbprint has a  Latin/Caribbean flair. Following on my mom’s footsteps, I too love the challenge of other cuisine styles, flavors and techniques. This means my cooking range is all over the map, you will not be bored. But the most important thing I want you to take away from visiting my blog, is that delicious food doesn’t have to be complicated and isn’t exclusive to Cordon Bleu graduates.

WE can do it. YOU can have fun doing it. LET’S do it together.

Cookingly yours,
Anamaris

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Veni, vidi, blogged!

I believe this is the portion of the game show where I introduce myself, tell you about my plans for this blog, set boundaries (ha!), impress you with my prose. That’s a really tall order, but I will tell you about me and the nervous beginnings of this humble blog.

I’m originally from Panama City, Panama. Way South from my current residence in Houston, Texas. I had the Panamanian version of Martha Stewart for a mother, except for the insider trading conviction. My mami, Patricia, was always the designated EventCoordinatorMenuPlannerExecutiveAndPastryChef for most every celebration or get-together we attended.

She loved learning new things, then experimenting with them, making them her own, and dazzling family and friends with her magic. But she wasn’t happy keeping these gifts to herself; she shared them with my Sis Magali and I, as well as anyone else who asked. Eventually she started her own cake decorating business, she’s a real pro still working an icing bag like nobody’s business.

In a way, this blog exists because of my mom. Because she introduced me to the kitchen at age 8, making me fall in love with everything that happens in that special room. It’s not a coincidence that people always gravitate to it. I hope you will come along with me as I learn new tricks and try new dishes and share some of my own.

Cookingly yours,
Anamaris