Meet Beth...

Please allow me to introduce to you my lovely friend Beth, who is both an adorable person and an amazing cook, and who has the distinct honor of being the first guest contributor on With This Nest (which, as you know, is about *this* close to winning an Oscar...just one small step down, really). Beth will occasionally be sharing some of her recipes and culinary knowledge with us, and since I have personally consumed the results of her cooking prowess I can assure you that you should pay attention. She will be back later this afternoon with her first recipe, but for now I give you her introductory post:

It’s a little nerve-wracking sitting down and trying to explain why I’m qualified to tell any of you how to cook. I don’t have any degrees in food, I am not a published food writer (or any kind of writer, honestly, unless a story entitled “The Squirrel Family Christmas” from the fourth grade counts), and I have never worked in the food industry. So, forget a little nerve-wracking. It’s a lot nerve-wracking.

However, in my twenties, I taught myself to cook after a lifetime of not being interested in the preparation of food and learned that I enjoy it tremendously. And believe it or not, I think this ties in with the story I mention above, penned by my ten year old self. When we are young, most of us spend a lot of time being creative. We paint, we draw, we write, we molded ashtrays and vases out of clay, (or for those of you who grew up when smoking was waning, just vases). Although I don’t know for a fact if most of you have stopped spending time creatively, I know I have. I have a feeling that is why we all love Darci’s blogs. They tap into a strong need inside each of us to be expressive, to create, to immerse ourselves in a project. And that’s what cooking has been for me, a way to connect back to that part of myself.

Cheers,

Beth