ABOUT

: M I S S I O N :

To inspire families to get in the kitchen and make delicious and nutritious home cooked meals together.

: I N T R O D U C T I O N :

Hello Friends,

My name is Rachel Rivera.  My grandmother’s name was Betty Crocker.  She had nothing to do with the company Betty Crocker, but she was a great cook nonetheless.  She was actually the exact opposite of the prim and proper image of the famous brand.  My Betty was a pistol with pale skin and jet-black hair.  She smoked like a chimney and cursed like a sailor.  She had seven children and was always in the kitchen.  She is my inspiration for this blog and the reason I want to be a better cook.  I want to be the one who brings the same dish to Christmas dinner every year and a specific dish to each other holiday because that’s what memories are all about.  I think every cook should have a celebrated dish that people remember them for.  It’s kind of like the rule that you should find your signature scent by the time you’re thirty (I found mine, its Flora by Gucci).  

When I think about my past it’s usually surrounded by delicious meals that I couldn’t forget and just the thought of them light up a fire in my chest making me want to recreate them.  Such memories include the most magnificent mastacholi that my Croatian best friends bubba made in High School.  I used to love eating at her house because we would eat at a table with linens on it and we would always say a Catholic prayer before we ate. The prayer was, “Bless us, O Lord, and these Thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy bounty, through Christ our Lord. Amen.” I love that because meals are gifts and we should give thanks and be grateful for each meal.  More meals that I remember are the most melt in your mouth rack of lamb and delicious flank steak and barley that my High School boyfriend’s parents used to make.  Every Christmas my grandma makes this really yummy breakfast egg dish casserole a little similar to the Spanish omelet with out the potatoes that everyone loves.  

When I traveled to Spain I went on a tapas tour and wine tasting excursions that were so life changing.  The ways in which people eat in other countries are different from how Americans eat.  It’s almost as if we in the U.S. don’t really appreciate the food we eat when we choose places to dine like fast food and other chains.  In other countries it’s not uncommon to sit and dine with friends and family for hours, but here it’s frowned upon to linger at a restaurant.  When you think of American food it doesn’t really sound nutritious does it? Burgers, fries, hotdogs, mostly processed carbs are the notorious American foods.  It would be amazing if we all had someone to cook us meals at home and when we travel, so we can experience home made local cuisine.  I got to experience that once when I was in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.  There was this woman who came and made chile rellenos from scratch in the house we were staying in.  She made them with the most delicious rice, and beans. We had it with fresh poke with fish that we had caught that afternoon.  There’s just something so special about it being made in your own private kitchen. There’s more love in it and the process of making it is the fun part.

My goal is to inspire people to take time to think about the meals they put into their bodies and feed their families.  Your body is a temple and should only receive the best nutritious foods. This is not to say that I don’t recommend some monk fish liver, tuna tar tar, or duck foie gras from time to time, but it is proven that a plant based diet is the answer for optimum health.  This type of diet will help you especially if you’re already sick and want to kick some disease out of your body.  So lets get cookin, good lookin!

Love, Rach