My name is Meg, Mrs. Mitchell if you're nasty. I was born in the middle-of-nowhere-farm-country Illinois (doesn't narrow it down much does it?) and moved to Atlanta when I was 5 with my mom and dad. I have a little sister whom I adore. We're 6 years apart and we used to hate each other but just like my mom predicted, we're best friends now. My mom taught me to cook when I was very little. Some of my earliest and best memories are of punching down cinnamon roll dough and making pancakes on Saturday mornings. If you have kids, teach them to cook because just having cooking basics growing up made me feel much more prepared for the world than my sister, who never took the time to watch and help.
I always excelled in school. I loved art and in high school, I became interested in building things. Constructing a 7ft tall guillotine for my French Revolution Literature class made me want to be an architect. When I got to Georgia Tech in 2004, I started out in Architecture (that's where I met my future husband, Josh) but I ended up majoring in Industrial Design. I graduated with a degree in that after making product models and furniture in a wood shop for 4 years. I got a job at a museum exhibit design firm and worked there until Josh graduated with his Masters in Structural Engineering a year and a half later (intelligence is so sexy!).
Josh soon got a job with an oil company and was told that he'd be working in Bossier City, Louisiana. Before that, however, he had to go to a training in Oklahoma City for 6 weeks. We decided that after the previous summer when he had spent 12 miserable weeks on an internship in Maryland, the dogs and I were going with him. So since I'd be moving to Louisiana soon anyway, I quit my job and lived in a hotel room with 2 dogs for 6 weeks. Yeah...it sucked but I was with my man and my babies so it was tolerable. After that was all over, I drove from OKC to Atlanta (12 hrs straight, I don't recommend it) to finish packing our stuff and get the Uhaul. We moved to Bossier City and I actually liked it. The people were nice, we lived in a nice apartment, and we were pretty close to civilization. But of course, after just 3 months, we find out that the Company admits they were mistaken in sending Josh to Louisiana and they instead want him to go to their office in East Texas. Dammit. I just got the last picture hung and then I had to take them all down again and pack. If there's one thing I hate more than green vegetables, it's packing. And unpacking. I had to do both by myself in the move from the ATL to the Bayou because of hubby's training.
We got to East Texas, got settled in a cute little rental house that actually has a nice yard and nice neighbors and for the foreseeable future, we've sort of put down roots. Even though I have a degree from a very reputable school, I decided I didn't like the idea of sitting at a desk the rest of my life (and southern cabinet shops don't believe a young woman can do quality woodworking) so I got a job at a bakery. It's at a local grocery store and they told me I was way overqualified but it's a start because I'd like to have my own bakery someday and make custom badass cakes.
So that's where we are now. Two young newlyweds trying to work, make friends and have fun in a new place away from everything we've ever known. Cooking is familiar, comforting, and rewarding for me. I know so many people who don't do it on a regular basis and it makes me sad because it's healthier, cheaper, and more stimulating than ordering off a paper menu. My little blog here is to help you make amazing meals you didn't think you could make. It just takes a little practice, patience, and some planning but once you start and get some confidence, it's an addiction you can't break.
