Behind the Scenes

There are a ton of websites related to peanut butter.  I chose to change my blog name to Peanut Butter and Ginger to celebrate one of my favorite flavor combos.  It can be savory, it can be sweet, but it’s always delicious!  I first had this explosive flavor combination two years ago in a Japanese candy I found at H-Mart.  I’ve been obsessed ever since.

Hi!  My name is Lauren.  I love to be in the kitchen; cooking, baking, eating or even just putting groceries away!

With mom, summer 2007

It’s hard to believe that up until I was 9, my mom and I thought of gourmet as ground beef, lettuce, yellow cheese and tomato wrapped up in a flour tortilla and topped with sour cream and ketchup (yes, I said ketchup).

 

Dancin’ the night away!

Enter my awesome (step)Dad to show us the errors of our ways and now I’m a 27-year-old woman who will eat anything from plain old chocolate chip cookies to sashimi to lamb biryani to paad thai.  I think I even out-spice him sometimes!

October 2010

I’ve always been really close with my family.  While most people think of their immediate family as mother, father and siblings, I think of my extended family as such.

Christmas morning (2009) we lost my youngest Uncle to a sudden heart attack.  It was like losing a brother.  He was 38 years old.

Aunt Dawn and Uncle Jeff in Bora Bora

My Uncles and I

This shocked my entire family to its core, but has brought us even closer than I thought possible.  There is rarely a day that goes by where I don’t talk to my family and tell them I love them.  We’ve used one another as shoulders to lean on during these hard times.

Through this past year, I’ve learned that life is too short not to live and take every opportunity that passes; so I started this blog to keep track of my passions about food.  A lot of adventure and a lot of love goes into everything I whip up.

I’m all about flavor combinations and to me weirder = better.  Sometimes my combinations are too strange for my family and friends, but I try not to let that stop me.  If I crave the combo, I eat it.  Kyle (the bf) is so awesome about this.  Now I’m not saying he won’t raise an eyebrow on occasion…

Whaaaaaaat??

… but he knows that I’m forever hunting for that perfect flavor.  He’s even been known to try some of my more odd creations!

Trying is an important part of my food philosophy.  I always had to try whatever we were eating growing up.  It’s how I got to be the crazy foodie I am today.  And if by chance I try something I don’t like, 99 times out of 100 I will try it again just to be sure.  I’ve even triple and quadruple checked before.  If at first it doesn’t taste good; try, try again.

I hope you enjoy my blog.  There will be some recipes, some funny stories, some sappy memories and definitely some food!