Welcome! I'm a Boston suburbanite new Pittsburgher and mom who is untrained in both life and cooking, but that just makes them both more exciting!

Though I love to connect with everyone who visits this website (I want to be your friend!), I'm really writing for my daughter and family in each post.  Someday, I hope that Lily will be able to read back over old posts to get recipe ideas and see a small slice of what our life was like when she was too little to remember.

Though I've never been much of a meat-eater, in January 2012 I decided to go for a full month without eating any.  That month has turned into a year, and I have a feeling it won't stop there.  The longer I have gone without eating meat, the less I crave it and the more strongly I feel about the social, physical, and environmental issues surrounding its production.  Life and Kitchen reflects this in that I no longer post recipes with meat (because I don't cook with it), but if you are a meat-eater then there are some gems in the archives for you!

When I'm not busy moving halfway across the country, rearing children, and reading cookbooks cover-to-cover, I work full-time in human resources and recently (finally) finished my master's degree.  Sleep is a love of mine that I hope to more fully reconnect with someday.

In general, this blog is all about having a good time and remembering to appreciate the fun and delicious things in life.  Come join the adventure!

Contact me anytime at lifeandkitchen@gmail.com.