about the recipe hoarder...


Hi.  I’m Kris & I’m a recipe hoarder.  I'm living in the Texas panhandle again; battling high winds, unadventurous eaters, and small town grocery stores.


I blame it on Martha Stewart.  She started this whole mess…

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It was the only place I knew to find recipes.  And so…on September 11, 2007, I printed out my very first recipe…roast chicken with herbs.  The next day I added lemon chicken to my ‘want to cook’ list.  A month after that I found 8 great autumn cocktails.

Besides the recipes I got from my mom, Martha Stewart was the only place I went looking for over a year.  But then…I found Food Network.  I think every day in 2009 I watched cooking shows.  I fell in love with Ina Garten, Giada de Laurentiis, Bobby Flay, and Tyler Florence.  The recipe box became my favorite place to hoard recipes.

My recipe hoarding spiraled out of control from there.  I soon found that magazines were a great source of recipes.  Food Network, Rachael Ray, Southern Living, & Taste of Home magazines were my favorites.  I had an ever growing stack of recipes I wanted to try.  Pretty soon it wasn’t enough and so…

I went searching for cookbooks at the library.  I’m pretty sure I realized I was addicted to searching for recipes when I came home from the library one day with 92 cookbooks in tow.  Oh yeah.  I’m not kidding.

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So now you know how it started, let me tell you why it started…

I am (well…not really anymore) the pickiest eater you’ve ever met.  Seriously.  I’m known for it.  Still, at 30, every family dinner I sit through my aunts, uncle, and cousins laugh about how & what I used to eat.

I guess because I didn’t really like food, I never wanted to learn how to cook any of it.  So…I didn’t.  I tried cooking & failed when I was 22, & gave up cooking until I was 25.

Being a picky eater & a sucky cook was all well & good until I packed up my belongings & moved to Alaska.  I found myself 3,000 miles from Texas, cold, hungry, & longing for some of mom’s home cooking.  I started serving the basics I knew I couldn’t mess up, but one can only eat so much spaghetti, chili, & fried chicken before you go mad!  That’s when I turned to Martha.

In 2009, I moved to Austin.  I was bored, lonely & still hungry…so I started my first food blog.  That’s also when I started watching Food Network & bringing home the library.

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In the past 5 years, I’ve started & ended multiple food blogs; gathered thousands of recipes; started a great cookbook collection; made, eaten, & thrown out many new dishes.  But most importantly I’ve discovered that:  I love avocados & asparagus.  I don’t care for black olives.  Tofu really isn’t all that bad.  Peppers of all kinds are always welcome in my kitchen.  Gyros are delicious.  I can get a bite of salmon down the hatch without puking.  Sushi isn’t so scary.  And…that I LOVE TO COOK!

I hope you enjoy reading about my food fortunes & fiascos.  Check in often to see what recipes I’ve been dishing up…I’m sharing all the great & not so great things I find along my journey.


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2 comments:

  1. It's nice to meet another recipe hoarder. I began hoarding recipes when I was in my 20s and am now 66. A few years ago, I got more organized and put my recipes into plastic sleeves and into four 3" binders, ones on cards went into 4 photo album binders and in my finished basement, I have a 7' shelf full of cookbooks I go through and purge now and then, so I can bring more home. I don't cook much these days, but my husband does, so when he's bored, I'm the idea person. Sounds like your beloved hobby will take yourself somewhere interesting. Ours will - we are making retirement years all about food - I grew vegetables for 25 years, we go to markets and unique food shops, try cooking gadgets and of course, cook. Best wishes - Carol in Akron,OH

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    1. Carol, I'm so glad you stopped by! Wow...sounds like you'll never run out of new recipes to try! And you're so organized...I'm trying to get that way! I know I'll never try all the recipes I have collected but I just can't keep searching for more!
      I've already learned so much these last 5 years...I'm so glad I picked up this little foodie/blog hobby!
      I hope you'll come back and I hope you'll share some of your favorite recipes with me!!

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