"The only real stumbling block is the fear of failure. In cooking, you have got to have a what-the-hell attitude." ~ Julia Child

Who is the Bad Home Cook?


Hi there –

Yeah OK I’m back.

From March 2006 to April 2014 I chronicled my misadventures in the kitchen, teaching myself the basics of cooking, one botched meal at a time.  For a while, it was a real hoot.

Almost nobody read it. But that was okay, because it was a place for me to write what I wanted when I wanted to with abandon and no editorial oversight. And that’s a lot of fun when you’re a former journalist.

Eventually I got the hang of the basic techniques. I figured out the difference between braising and basting, for example. I finally successfully made a smoothie. And a stir-fry. Then I met a chef. And then it was like cheating. “How do make a brown butter sauce for trout?” And I’d get a 20 minute lecture and demo. My legendary bad home cooking became a lot less bad.

Still can’t decently frost a sugar cookie, but so what. I took a break from blogging for a while.

But strangely enough I sort of missed it. So I’m back, and I’ll post when I have something. Otherwise I will assume I still have the same audience of about 10, including my boyfriend, my dad, a variety of exes, a couple of stalwart friends and maybe one of my kids (but probably not) and I won’t kill myself over a regular schedule or anything.

There IS a lot of  good content in here. You could spend a long time reading through all the posts from 2006…Someday someone will find it all and enjoy it con mucho gusto. 

As always, if you’re reading this, feel free to join the Bad Home Cooking Facebook page — it’s open to the public — and it’s where all of the action is today. Hope to see you there!