Hi, I’m Cassidy! By day I’m a Registered Dietitian, and by night (and weekend!) I’m a bread baker, veggie comfort food maker, and all around food lover. This blog is my balance: it’s where I share my love for baking, eating, and creating with the world. It’s where I share some fun facts about food and stories about my life. I hope you enjoy learning a bit about me, and a bit about food, from post to post. This is my comfort food.
Comfort food is different for everyone. Maybe for you it’s a giant salad, and for the next guy it’s a pound of roast beef. For me, comfort food represents the places I’ve been in my life. I have Midwestern roots, spent a few of my younger years in Florida, and lived my “formative years” in Georgia, where I ate myself into southern comfort food heaven. Comfort food is the food that makes me happy and replays my favorite memories. It’s the food that keeps me cozy and makes me think of home.
You may notice that most of my recipes are vegan. I’m actually vegetarian, and have been since sophomore year of college, but I try to make most of my home cooking vegan. It’s partly for fun and partly for personal beliefs that I won’t delve in to right now. If I share a vegetarian recipe, there will always be an option to veganize it.
As a dietitian, it’s my job to encourage healthy eating behaviors in the ways that work for my patients or clients. I believe that you don’t have to be vegan, or vegetarian, to have these healthy eating behaviors. This blog is a passion project that is based on my own eating preferences– this is the way that I choose to be healthy and find my balance.
You’ll notice that I do share healthy eating tips, but it is not the main focus of my blog. My goal is to share my growth as a home baker and home cook, and to have fun experimenting along the way.
Important note: I have a major sweet tooth. It’s in my blood! Growing up, my mom made homemade cookies every week. Cookies were my afternoon snack, my bedtime snack, my favorite thing ever! You’ll find dessert recipes on my blog that call for butter, and you’ll find recipes that call for applesauce. Once again, it’s all about balance – I’ve moved past eating cookies for every snack, but I still enjoy them from time to time.
I want you to have fun while you’re making my recipes. Even though my blog is all about recipes (aka step by step instructions), I don’t think everything has to be so black and white. You’ll probably notice that I add in suggestions to customize recipes to your preference pretty often. This is where the learning and growing happens!
I love learning. It’s part of the reason I’m such a fan of being a dietitian; it’s actually my job to continue learning every single day. I have to stay up to date on new research, new trends, etc. to stay on top of my field. And I want you to learn with me! When I make recipes I love to share why I’m making the recipe in the way that I am. Why did I add that apple cider vinegar to the baking soda? What’s the point of soaking dry beans before boiling them? I’ll do the googling for you so that we can both learn a little more, recipe by recipe.
I’m also a big fan of food history. I try to include a few resources at the end of the post for those interested in delving deeper into a subject presented in the recipe.
When I’m not making a giant mess in my dishwasher-less kitchen, I’m off exploring my current city of Portland, Oregon. In the warmer months I’m out hiking and wandering around this pacific wonderland, and in the cooler months I’m probably sipping coffee or beer, or spending all my money at thrift stores.
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy learning with me. Don’t hesitate to reach out to me at [email protected] for questions or comments. I love hearing from you!