Meet the Chef

Hey, I'm Michelle and I'm a very southern, Stay-at-Home/Work-at-Home Mom (still trying to figure out where that "stay-at-home" part comes in) who loves to make every night at the dinner table very special.  I love to cook, bake and especially make every holiday and birthday special for my family and friends.

I became a mother in 2001 at age 34 and I'm not that different from any other good Mom; try to do what's best for my family, save money where I can (even if it means I have to spend a little more in order to do so), volunteer at school and in the community, incorporate family time into our lives come hail or high water, and I pray - A Lot.

I don't have any particularly fancy tools in my kitchen like you'd find on those fancy T.V. shows, although my best good friend, Jenn, would disagree when it comes to my Kitchen Aid mixer - and even I have to admit, it's turned out to be THE BEST wedding gift ever. I only have ONE good knife that was also a gift (from my mother). Outside of those two items though, like I said; nothing really fancy or special but OH! do I have a wish list that's about a mile and a half long ... maybe someday, huh?

I'm a Food Network addict during the Fall and Winter Holidays; quite frequently indulge in sugary goodness with Betty Crocker, and find myself reading varying cookbooks on a regular basis.  I must admit though, that more often than not, I alter recipes to suit my own liking; not that there's partiularly anything wrong or distasteful about the originals - I just simply have a taste All My Own.  I'm not a nutritionist and I'm certainly not a certified dietician, but I do TRY most of the time to prepare healthy home-cooked meals for my family.  When dietary information is available, I will certainly add it along with the recipe, but as I said - more often than not, I end up altering recipes to suit myself so that information (when available) becomes null and void.

Thanks to multiple requests, I've decided to share all my favorite recipes, tips, tricks and party planning/organizing ideas.  It's going to take some time to completely build this site the way I'd like to see it done, and I'm hoping to eventually be able to add video segments; but I do sincerely hope that anyone visiting HKC (Home Kitchen Cookin') can leave with some great new recipes, or tips and ideas on preparing some of the recipes you already love.

I absolutely love trying out new dishes so please send an email with your favorite recipe for me to test in my own Home Kitchen.  You could be the next to earn my HKC Seal of Approval and have your very own favorite recipe posted at Home Kitchen Cookin'.