Chef /SHef/– noun

In the French language, it means boss. In English, it’s a professional cook and tradesperson who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. But the truth of the matter is, I started like most of us do – with a budget and a desire to eat delicious food often and still make my rent – and probably more importantly is the truth that I continue to learn each and every week.

I am a foodie at heart with what many people call a “perfect palate.” I adore good food, creative food, ingenious food combinations – the weirder it sounds the more intrigued I get. I am the person that everyone goes to when they can’t figure out what goes in that sauce from the restaurant downtown. I taste all of the ingredients separately and simultaneously. It’s both a blessing and a curse. Why a curse, you ask? Because diet food and budget food always just tasted – meh. Don’t get me wrong, if beans and cornbread is all I have then I’m thankful for that food…because I know there are people out there who have far less. But I have learned that poverty doesn’t have to be bland (sometimes it can actually be some of the best food you will ever taste), it doesn’t have to have unhealthy levels of sodium, and it can be good for you.

My culinary education was a trial by grease fire.

-Jennifer Bartholomew

Becoming a cook was really forged in the crucible of necessity, so initially my menus were always designed with a specific purpose in mind. When I was diagnosed with a degenerative arthritic autoimmune disease I needed to eat things that were less inflammatory, so I created anti-inflammatory recipes to reduce my pain levels. When that same disease attacked my pancreas, I started creating low-carb recipes to keep my sugar (and my weight) down. When our garden surprised us with a prolific harvest, I leaned into vegetable-forward cooking. But the real test came during the pandemic, when my husband and I – both contractors – were suddenly laid off and ineligible for unemployment. That’s when I really learned how to pinch pennies and still make dinner taste good.

But when I tell you that my culinary education was a trial by grease fire, I mean it! I 100% do not have it all together. When I cooked for my husband for the first time I almost set their kitchen on fire. And for some reason he married me anyway. I cannot begin to tell you the number of mistakes that I have made with recipes – I added an ingredient too soon and ended up with a gelatinous mess or burned something or mistook one ingredient for another. If these kitchen walls could talk…they would certainly spill a lot of tea about me and give the almighty side-eye that I’m doing a recipe and food blog!

My point of telling you this is to say, maybe cooking seems hard. And you know what? That’s okay. It really can seem intimidating. I hope that everyone who reads my stories and cooks my recipes can benefit from all of my culinary chaos to really bring something beautiful and budget friendly to the table.