Grazen table on Being Brave
This one’s about me.
The theme of bravery came up twice this week as I was doing my usual dive of reading my favorite Substacks (see my recommendation page for some of my favs) & watching my foodie “friends” on instagram do their thing.
of Justine Snacks said she has a monthly mantra and December’s is all about Being Brave. She reminds herself she’s Being Brave when she tries something new or puts herself out there.Then I read this wonderful essay by
, about how she grew her substack, from a more philosophical perspective (less of how and more on why one writes a substack). Wouldn’t you know it, bullet point #6 was Be Brave.“Being brave means different things to different people, but I think it almost always means being willing to try new things, make mistakes, and embrace failure.”
So, I took it as a sign that this week’s writing should come from a place of bravery, and today that means sharing information about me, the path that lead me here, and my Why behind this newsletter.
My interest in cooking is rooted back to my childhood. My dad enjoyed cooking and always had The Food Network on and I always loved watching the infamous original Food Network stars cook (Ina, Emeril, Giada, Tyler Florence). In college, I credit my roommate, Molly, to opening my eyes to Farm to Table cooking. She was born and raised in San Francisco and had the luxury of frequenting the incredible Farmers Market in the Ferry Building. I still remember a vendor offering me a fresh California fig that blew my mind. She also gifted me the Farmer’s Market Cookbook, which I still have on my shelf. My collection of cookbooks has grown over the years and I value each book tremendously (a post for another day).
It was in college I was gifted my first cherry red Le Crueset dutch oven that is still my #1 work horse in the kitchen and was the catalyst to building my Le Crueset collection over the years. My husband still gives me grief over picking a vibrant cherry red color instead of a more muted option, but such is life.
After grad school I lived in the most perfect apartment with my best friend, @jen.naye from high school we lovingly referred to as the “treehouse”. It was situated in Gold Coast, Chicago in a high rise with views of Lake Michigan and the city skyline (my first and last Chicago apartment with such a view). It was there cooking started to take on a different meaning. It was one way we brought our friends together, and cooking food for them was how I showed my love and appreciation (that still holds true to this day). A few pictures circa 2013 of our annual Friendsgiving (note the Ham → we’ve been on team Ham parties for sometime now).
Since our days in the treehouse 10 years ago, I’ve done a lot of reading, learning, asking, and trialing in the cooking space. It’s my creative outlet; it’s how I connect; it’s how I grow. When I searched my personal pictures on my phone for “food”, 1,616 came up. Here are a few of them:
To be fair, it’s also just a slice of who I am: I work full time, I’m married to a wonderfully supportive partner, I’m a mom to my two (young) kids, a daughter, sister, and friend.
That leads us to today and why I’m writing about food. About a year and a half ago, we relocated from Chicago to Columbus most literally by our realtor and now friend and neighbor, Kelly Rauch (click to read more about how she kills it as a realtor). She defines Being Brave, is a huge supporter of start ups, small businesses, and fosters the entrepreneurial spirit in anyone who has an “idea”. A year ago, she hosted a gathering of women to create Vision Boards for 2023. We had a million magazines and picked pictures that spoke to us. Mine was filled with (unsurprisingly) food and hosting pictures:
Now the question was, what was I going to do with this “vision” in 2023. I’ve spent the past year really thinking about that question and taking small, but meaningful steps in channeling energy towards defining an answer.
With the helpful nudge of Kelly, Jen (not only my Chicago roommate, but incredible entrepreneur with her own successful company, The Marketing Greenhouse), and many other inspirational friends in the community, I’ve done a few Brave things this year that have made me feel more connected to food:
Started a cookbook club (each member is not only a great cook, but have their own start up or endeavor they pursue and are so inspirational).
Made some meaningful connections with others who have a similar likes in the food space (see my friend
, who recently started a substack of her own: ).Started a catering company for small events in the Columbus area: Grazen Table.
Weekly dinner swap with my neighbor.
Made a fairly consistent Sunday Family Dinner (the kind of food you cook when you want to not because you have to).
Started this here substack.
If you made it with me on my journey this far (thank you). I’ll end with what I hope summarizes the intent behind this substack with a quote once again from
:“They [Substack writers] are fueled by desire to know, understand, illuminate, create, share, connect, etc., around a certain axis of ideas. This kind of passion and curiosity is palpable, infectious, and cannot be faked.”
For me, that means staying curious about disrupters in the food space, sharing recipes I’m working on, food that inspires me, brands that are doing something special, and local events to support in the Columbus area. My hope is to contribute to and build connections within a community.
I hope you come a long with me on my journey and would be grateful if you share this newsletter, comment, or subscribe.
Thanks for making me feel Brave today,