Hi there! I’m Kate, and this is my food blog Nibble and Dine, where you’ll find quick and easy recipes perfect for weeknights, with a pinch of decadent and creative recipes thrown in for fun!
About Nibble and Dine
I started Nibble and Dine in August 2017. When I first started, I envisioned creating mostly decadent and unusual recipes, like this recipe for Molten Cheese Jalapeno Corn Cakes. These recipes were really fun to create, but were super time consuming, and I began to realize that not only did the long development time for each recipe keep me from posting as often as I would like, they also didn’t fit my actual lifestyle anymore.
During this transitional time in my life – moving from working full time to part time and raising a kid (now two!), I realized that my relationship with cooking had changed. Now I don’t have much time to spend on complicated recipes, and after either working or taking care of the kids all day, making dinner had become a chore, when it was something I used to really enjoy.
So, I decided to change gears and use the blog to solve a real problem in my own life: needing fast or easy recipes (or ideally both!) that will help me get dinner on the table with less stress, but also be delicious and NOT boring. The ultimate goal is to make cooking fun again! I’m also hoping this blog can help some of you out there who are in the same situation.
Now, I still really love creating interesting recipes for special occasions and when I have the time, (like this recipe for Cranberry Pineapple Upside Down Cake), but these will be, just like in real life, for fun every once in a while.
About Me
I grew up in a family that loves to cook, and I’ve been creating my own recipes (with mixed results I admit!) since childhood. My most infamous creation had to be the Shake n’ Bake casserole. I was about 10, and I got it into my head that the Shake n’ Bake crumbs would add a perfect crunch to a casserole.
Not a bad idea in theory I guess? So I added two layers of crumbs between pieces of chicken and baked it; I don’t remember what else I added, but it was probably just as ill-advised as the Shake n’ Bake. I made my poor mother try it, and, well, the crumbs were so dry and crunchy, it was like chomping on tiny pebbles. This was about 25 years ago, and my recipes have improved by leaps and bounds (I promise!) but at least once every few years my mom finds a reason to tease me about the Shake n’ Bake disaster of 1993.
Since then I had a few other misses growing up: adding ¼ CUP of cinnamon to a muffin recipe rather than ¼ teaspoon, trying to make pie dough with tub margarine instead of butter (not the same at all!), and attempting to make meringues but only stirring the egg whites instead of whipping; you can immediately see the problem there.
But that whole time, I was learning more about cooking techniques and the art of perfecting a recipe. I kept cooking and experimenting with recipes in my adult life, and now with Nibble and Dine, I have a place to share my love of food with all of you.
More about me: I grew up on the East Coast but moved to California 10 years ago. My husband and I lived there very happily, enjoying all the cheap, ripe avocados we could eat. Then we had our first daughter in 2016 and suddenly the more affordable housing prices and family support back home seemed too good to pass up. So we moved back, bought a house, had another daughter, and are enjoying our new lives on the East Coast. And I’m happy to say the avocado supply on the East Coast has also improved immesurably in the last ten years.
I’m so glad you stopped by Nibble and Dine; please feel free to contact me if you have any feedback on the site or just want to share one of your childhood cooking disasters, I would sure love to hear about it!
