Hi, my name is Kirsten, and this is my blog, Cooking with Bells On.

If you’ve found this page, I’m going to assume that you’re family. Or possibly a friend, or even a friend of family. In any case, thank you for coming. If by some fantastic stretch of reality I’ve become very famous in a few years and you, my reader, are in fact neither friend nor family, but instead a fan, I thank you all the more. The idea that someone might come to this site by their own volition (not forced here by the impossibly supportive hands of my parents or sisters) is incredibly exciting, and I will work very hard to make sure that the posts to follow are worth your time.

Cooking with Bells On is about cooking with freedom and curiosity. Its about letting go of rules and recipes, and instead embracing spontaneity.

I believe a lot of things about food, but most fundamentally I believe that food is meant to nourish. We all know that healthy food will nourish our bodies, providing us with the energy we require to get through our days. And many of have experienced the inherent value that comes in providing a meal to someone we love. What I hope to express, though, builds further upon these principles of nourishment. I believe that food, and especially the act of cooking food, is deeply nourishing to our souls. When we take the time to prepare food, we inadvertently begin to take care of ourselves in a variety of ways that exceed simply putting food in our bodies. For one person, cooking may be an act of meditation, a rare opportunity to focus on a singular task. For another, it could be a creative outlet, bringing joy as flavors and techniques are combined in  unexpected ways. For perhaps a third, cooking is medium for self improvement, wherein the refinement of skill is a never-ending journey. For me, cooking is all of these things.

This blog is documentation not only of the food that I am cooking, but of the care that I am taking of myself and those around me. Yes, there will be recipes here, ones which I promise will be delicious and really easy. And if you want to just stop by and grab an idea for dinner tonight, that’s awesome and I am totally excited to share my recipes with you. But, if you’re interested, I also invite you to follow my story as it unfolds. In the coming posts, I’ll be talking about my journey so far, and how I learned to take care of myself through cooking. I’ll also tell you about with you whats coming up for me, which – spoiler alert – has a lot to do with cooking, too.

Again, thanks for reading. You’ll be hearing more from me very soon!