About The Good Food Muse

The Good Food Muse was born out of a month long locavore experiment I did in September, '07. I blogged about that experience, documenting everything I ate for the entire month - which consisted only of foods that were grown or raised in the county I lived in (Humboldt County, CA.) After the month was over, I missed photographing and writing about the things I was cooking, so I started a new food blog: The Good Food Muse. In January '09 I moved back to my home state of Wisconsin. I currently live in Madison, WI - the setting changed, the Good Food Muse kept going!

This is a food blog that's not interested as much in recipes as how to cook and create recipes of your own. Recipes are useful (and it's easy to find one for practically anything on the web), but the real art of cooking is knowing when to follow the recipe and when to just make stuff up. Equally important to me are things like creativity and recovering well from mistakes, making the most of leftovers, and knowing the seasonality and origin of all my ingredients. I try to document my mistakes as well as my triumphs, 'cause I certainly don't know everything there is to know about cooking, and I doubt anyone reading my blog does either. It sounds cliche, but I believe cooking is a life-long learning experience (or better yet, adventure!) and I plan on making mistakes and learning new things in the kitchen as long as I have the strength to saute garlic and onions!

I'm passionate about organics and sustainable farming, but I'm not a vegan or vegetarian. My attitude toward nutrition is heavily influenced by the book Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon. I believe traditional and nutrient dense fats such as butter, lard, and olive oil are good for me, but only if they come from animals who have been allowed to eat their natural pasture based diets and live in humane, healthy conditions. I'd rather be a vegan than eat the meat, milk, or eggs of animals who have lived the short tragic lives that factory farmed animals are allowed. But when I can get these products from farms that allow their animals to live in humane and healthy conditions, I eat them as often as I can!

I'm also all about local. I believe supporting the local food economy is one of the biggest contributions a person can make to their own health, the health of their community, and the health of the planet - plus local food just tastes so much better than food that's put in a box and shipped thousands of miles! I love exploring all the ways to eat seasonal foods - they are my inspiration!
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