The Kitchen is My Playground: {About Me}

Welcome to The Kitchen is My Playground! I'm so glad you stopped by.

I'm Tracey, and I love cooking - especially baking. I consider my kitchen my playground and am trying new recipes all the time. I very rarely leave a recipe alone. I like to tinker with them and explore what happens with the changes. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't ... but it's always a fun adventure. The Kitchen is My Playground is where I share my tinkerings, recipes, and kitchen adventures … well, the successful ones anyway.

I spend most of my time outside the kitchen as a first grade teacher. I absolutely love having the privilege of teaching little ones. My students warm my heart every day. I especially get to see their joy each day when they're out on the playground. When it came time to pick a name for my blog, I immediately equated the joy I experience when in the kitchen to the joy they show me every day playing. And that's how the name The Kitchen is My Playground came to be.

I'm glad you're here. I hope you enjoy being a part of my playground!

Contact Me

Thekitchenismyplayground{at}yahoo{dot}com

Why I Cook

This Penzey’s Spice sticker truly sums up why I cook:

Cooking is, in all honesty, a way I show that I care about people - a way I show love.

I also love the quest … the quest for great ingredient combinations, for unexpected flavors, for those “wow” recipes, for the best version of a dish or baked good, and especially for that utterance of “oh my goodness” or “yum” from those for whom I cook. I love to know that I have brought the simple pleasure of good food to those I care about. It makes me smile.

What I Post

I post, quite simply, what tastes good to me. To make it to The Kitchen is My Playground (and, to my yes-I’ll-make-this-again list, for that matter), it has to pass my test – the “Is it worth the calories?” test. That’s how my Mom and I judge and discuss foods, asking each other “Was it worth the calories?” We’re always looking for those recipes for which the answer is a resounding and definite “Oh, yes!”

So, everything on The Kitchen is My Playground has been deemed by me as “worth the calories.” I truly hope you’ll find my choices to be worth the calories, too. I do realize, however, that all our taste buds are different.

What I Cook

My cooking style runs the gamut, so to speak.

v I like easy, but am certainly not afraid of complex.

v I prefer fresh ingredients, but do succumb to the ready availability of canned, frozen, and prepared. (Are there any of us who don’t??)

v I prefer scratch-made, but am not opposed to using a convenience food that makes up or bakes up a tasty treat.

v Baking sweets is my favorite thing, but my hips and backside can’t quite take all the baking I’d like to do, so you’ll find savories here too.

v I lean toward whole grains, but I’m a work in progress with this.

v While I’m not vegetarian, I have no problem with meatless meals. In fact, I love them. My hubby, on the other hand …

v I’m not at all tied to one method, region, ethnic origin, or style of cooking.

My bottom line? If it tastes good, I’m good with it.

Me As a Person

To share a little bit about the non-cook me, here are 25 random facts about me. In no particular order.

1. I grew up in Vermont and moved to North Carolina (where I currently reside) when I was 24.

2. I’ve lived in North Carolina for 17 years now. (Do the math … you now know how old I am! We’ll consider that a bonus random fact.)

3. I am immensely loyal to two Vermont products – pure Vermont maple syrup and Cabot cheese. (I have a special place in my heart for Simon Pearce glass, too.)

4. I’m a choc-a-holic. I go especially crazy over dark chocolate. (For frequent readers … no shocker there!)

5. I love to blow bubbles.

6. I love wine. Boldly oaked Chardonnay, to be exact.

7. I hate snow.

8. I hate the cold.

(Are you starting to understand why I moved South?)

9. I try not to drink any calories. (Well … except for wine … see #6.)

10. I’m proud to say that I’m a cancer survivor (thyroid cancer at age 30 … scary).

11. I cannot be left alone with a bag of potato chips. It’s detrimental. To me and to the chips.

12. I love water. Love to be around and on it. But not in it. Weird, huh?

13. I don’t eat fish. Can’t stand it. Shellfish – yes. ‘Swimmy fish’ – not so much.

14. I’m assistant to my beekeeper husband. We currently have two hives, with plans to expand.

15. I could eat pizza every day. Seriously.

16. Speaking of ‘seriously,’ I’m a Grey’s Anatomy junkie.

17. I love bologna. Don’t judge.

18. I’m terrible at sports. I mean absolutely horrible. We’re not talking just a little bit bad … we’re talking awful.

19. My Mom calls me Miss Grace – for my complete lack of it. I, for one, can hurt myself standing still.

20. I don’t have a favorite color. For clothing – black. But other than that, no colors really stand out for me. When people ask my favorite color, I usually say green. Because it seems weird to say “I don’t have one.” Doesn’t it?

21. I can’t stand to see people spit. Totally grosses me out.

22. There are days I don’t feel like cooking.

23. I’m an introvert. Most people who know me “live” think I’m an extrovert. But I’m not.

24. My idea of camping is a quaint little bed & breakfast, decent hotel, or condo on the beach.

25. I absolutely love, love, love S’mores. Fortunately, you can enjoy them without a campfire (see #24).

Thank you so much for stopping by. It’s nice to ‘meet’ you!
Tracey