I’ve been a vegetarian for 27 years, and come from a family who are passionate about cooking and collecting cookbooks. My growing cookbook collection is over 200. I absolutely love sitting on the couch with a stack of cookbooks to dream about what I’m going to cook for the upcoming week.

My 8.5 years of living in China intensified my passion for cooking and broadened my cooking scope. I taught at the national seminary in Nanjing, and my students often invited me to travel across the country to stay in their homes and cook with their families. I feel privileged to have those memories of cooking delicious, local Chinese dishes in intimate spaces. Because of those years, I gravitate toward Chinese and other Asian flavors as my comfort foods and easy weekly go-to dishes.

Back home in California, I work as a full time hospice chaplain, and I also have several personal experiences with grief, most recently my stepfather. He taught me how to cook Indian food because he had lived in India and talked about it often. For many years we had a weekly father-daughter Indian cooking night. I have found I use cooking as a therapeutic way to feel connected to loved ones and friends and live out their legacies with joy and beauty.

Come cook with me. I’m passionate about sharing cooking inspiration and recipes. I started this blog many years ago as a passion project. The recipes come out of my lived experiences and I promise you they’re delicious.