About

Keeley

I've had many hobbies over the years, but over time I've stuck with cooking and baking. In "real life" I have a busy full-time job, but in my free time I'm an enthusiastic home cook. I also enjoy reading on my Kindle, working on home improvement projects with my husband (known as "E" on this blog), and spending quality time with our dogs, Milo and Zelda.

I learned how to bake when I was very young, but I didn't start cooking until I was living alone in my first apartment at age 22. I used to joke, "I can bake cookies and cake, but I can't do anything with raw meat!" Fast-forward to today and I'm a more experienced home cook thanks to tips from family, the Internet, cooking magazines, and The Food Network.

I started this blog in August 2009 after reading so many wonderful food blogs. I wanted to document my cooking and baking adventures. I love the sense of community among bloggers and I appreciate comments and emails from readers.

I'm not a journalist or a professional chef. I'm an enthusiastic home cook. Sometimes I create my own recipes, sometimes I cook from existing recipes, and other times I modify recipes to suit my taste. I believe that a recipe is just inspiration for your own custom dish.

I generally cook from scratch. I do not limit myself to organic ingredients, but I do like fresh, local ingredients, whenever possible. During the summer months I use vegetables and herbs from my own garden. I occasionally use convenience products, but they must be of good quality.

I'm not a picky eater, but there is one food that I won't touch in any form: mayonnaise. As a matter of fact, I'm not fond of condiments in general. The list of foods I love is long: brie, pizza, most fresh fruits, onions, almost anything Thai, butter, Chipotle burritos, any poultry... I could go on and on.

I create all of my meals in our modest townhome kitchen. Our home does not have a formal dining room and we have limited storage space. Despite these limitations, I believe that it’s important to invest in the best ingredients and tools you can afford. Storage is my biggest challenge, so I don’t typically buy exotic kitchen tools and I am very creative about food storage. We can’t entertain as much as we would like due to the small size of our home.

I love to cook and bake and I love good food made with fresh ingredients. I hate doing dishes, so I'm fortunate to be married to a man who happily cleans up in exchange for good meals.

I appreciate the informal, interactive, and candid nature of blogging. This blog is full of my opinions and experiences. If I receive any ingredients or products for free, I'll always let you know. I do not promote products or services that I don't use or like.

My goal is to get people to believe in their own ability to cook great meals, desserts, and snacks. I believe that cooking should be an art, not a chore... especially if someone else does the dishes!

Questions or comments? Contact me at keeleycancook (at) gmail (dot) com.

I'm also on Twitter: (at) KeeleyPowell

Other Characters

E

The handsome guy on my left (above) is the man I married in 2005.  I refer to him as "E" on this blog.  With the exception of grilling, E doesn't cook much, but he's a craft beer connoisseur and particularly fond of Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales.  He also likes the Philadelphia Phillies, Prince, The Beatles, and RockBand.

Maxwell

My husband and I like to call our son Max our "greatest creation".  He was born in July 2012 and we're having a lot of fun learning how to be a family of three after being a married couple for over seven years prior to his arrival.  We think he's pretty great and I'm looking forward to sharing some homemade baby food recipes once he starts eating solid food.

So far Max looks a lot like daddy, but he has mommy's personality! 

Milo

Milo is our adorable (16 pound!) Pomeranian.  We adopted him from the Delaware SPCA in February 2006.  He's our first dog and he's always the life of the party.  Milo likes sleeping, riding in the car, tennis balls, and bacon.

Zelda

Zelda is our little Papillon.  We adopted her in July 2006 after she was rescued from a Pennsylvania puppy mill.  She's the smartest of our two dogs and while she doesn't like to cuddle, she loves me and follows me everywhere.  Zelda likes socks and being in the kitchen with her mama (me).