About

Hi! I’m Mariel and every time I cook I make a terrible mess. I’m not someone who does dishes as she goes or carefully measures ingredients without spilling a drop. I spill a lot. When I’m finished, the kitchen looks like a disaster zone. Even so, I love cooking.

I started this blog to do three things.

1. Push myself to try new recipes

2. Share food with my family and friends

3. Use my messy and imperfect kitchen adventures to show that home cooking can be fun, delicious, and sometimes even impressive.

Although primarily food-focused, this blog also has some lifestyle posts. My husband Ryan and I recently moved to London from the Washington, DC area and every Tuesday I’ll post stories about expat life, sight-seeing, and our travels.

Outside of the kitchen, I’m a museum educator, I like reading, shoes, Star Wars, and eating cookies. Enjoy!

If you’re new to cooking…

If you are  new to cooking, look out for this little chef. He marks recipes that are quick, easy, or helpful to new cooks. I’ll also tag the recipes as “novice” so you can search that way.

If you want to contact me…

If it’s a question about a specific recipe, please put it in that post’s comments. If you have other questions or suggestions for future posts, I can be reached at cookingismessy@gmail.com.