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My name is Rachel and I’'m addicted to food.

(All: Hi Rachel)

Actually, before we go any further, I feel like I should be a little more clear about what I mean by “food.” Sure, I love to eat. Often. A lot. Many things. But I also love to cook, bake, simmer, sauté, and pretty much everything that one can do with a handful of ingredients, some creativity, and a little luck. I grew up in a household where someone was always cooking, and I like to think a little teeny bit of my parents’ culinary aptitude rubbed off on me. I’m not really sure how well this is working out, but I figure if I amass enough fancy pots, pans, blenders, and kitchen do-dads, something mildly delicious/appealing/pretty/edible is bound to result at some point.

One of the first things I did when I moved here two years ago was to make a list of all the restaurants I want to try. Although I love to cook and create in the comfort of my own kitchen, sometimes, I’m lazy. Sometimes I want to do something special or celebrate an occasion (be it real or made up). Sometimes, I’m just really tired of my own cooking. Regardless of the reason, when my fridge is bare, feet sore, or I’m in the market for some variety, I break out the restaurant bucket list. Although I’ve eaten my way through a fair number of the original restaurants listed, new places to try, dishes to sample, and beverages to sip keep popping up and the list just keeps on growing. I’m going to try to chronicle some of these future drinking and dining escapades here in these pages.

This blog will, hopefully, accomplish several things:

• Keep score of my cooking and baking shenanigans
• Ramble coherently about recent local dining experiences
• Serve as an excellent way to kill several minutes of your day
• Document my attempts at do-it-myselfing non-food-based miscellany
• Maybe, just maybe, detail my never-ending quest to eat/be healthier
• Probably other stuff, too

Those, dear reader, are my lofty goals for the posts and pages to follow. I hope whatever lies herein you find informative, amusing, inspiring, motivati……err, really, I just hope you like it.