about me-thyme to blog

Bear with me – I am a novice to the blog world and will most likely make some “blog faux pas” along the way! Some of the cooking blogs I’ve been reading are extremely intimidating, but I am going to give it my best shot.

My name is Cindi and I live in Southern California with my husband. I was a late bloomer when it came to cooking and pretty clueless in the kitchen. The idea of getting dinner on the table either meant opening a can from an inadequate pantry or retrieving an unrecognizable crystallized package from the freezer. I didn’t even know how to spell balsamic and thought extra virgin olive oil was possibly made from olive trees grown on the grounds of a convent.

My husband and I are empty nesters – well not quite “empty,” since we substituted Buttons, our adorable Shih-Tzu/Terrier when our son finished school and moved out.

 This is when I started developing a passion for cooking. I have always been more of a visual learner, so with the plethora of televised cooking shows, I was able to learn some basics and dug out some old dusty family recipes to try. I also had to get my kitchen in shape for my new found avocation.

After disposing of spices and condiments that may have been around when The Beatles appeared on Ed Sullivan, cans that have been through more than a few California aftershocks, cheese that could produce penicillin, and pretty much everything else in the pantry, freezer and refrigerator, I slowly restocked the kitchen with the true necessities. My intent was to make simple delicious meals using the highest caliber and freshest ingredients available. I educated myself in topics like storing food and shelf life, which is not very glamorous, but essential in the kitchen. I do not have a particularly large or practical galley kitchen. My “triangle” is more of an obtuse triangle, with the refrigerator at one end several steps from the stove and sink. I limit equipment to what is truly needed, like a good knife ( I’ll save my emergency room visit about my “good knife” for a different post). OK my kitchen was ready, but I certainly wasn’t.

I needed some inspiration. I definitely didn’t see myself turning out Martha Stewart masterpieces, since I knew I didn’t have the patience for her intimidating, albeit incredible recipes. I believe the turning point was watching Ina Garten. She made cooking seem fun and possible, especially for a fledgling cook as myself. I actually found some success when first attempting her recipes. Of course, those “first recipes” were things like Roasted Asparagus and Roasted Shrimp Orzo, which I think my husband could make, even though to this day when I call him on my way home from work and ask him to preheat the oven, I still have to go through the grueling steps. Nevertheless, I gained confidence and hope for my cooking and actually felt I had potential.

Living in Southern California facilitated my new passion, since quality ingredients are available year round. After months of experimenting, which included a handful of successes and more than a handful of debacles, prompting my husband to ask, “what’s that smell,” I was able to reach a point where I did not have to spend hours in the kitchen all the time to turn out delicious meals. Many of the recipes in this blog will be recipes you can make after work which won’t require a lot of preparation or time, and some will be the type you save for the weekend. After all Thyme is of the Essence!!

I look forward to sharing recipes, stories and tips on this blog and hope you enjoy it. If you don’t, goodness knows there are thousands of other blogs to read.