About Me


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Seattle... My home... (Photo courtesy of Andrey Mischenko)
 


Hello, my friend and thank you for stopping by.
I am a Seattleites that is misplaced in a middle of the country, to be specific, in Fort Smith, Arkansas.
I am a wife, who followed her husband to the South, leaving behind a daughter, dear friends, a great job, and a rain... Believe it or not but there could be too much sun.

In the beginning of 2011 our family had to face some big challenges and make some tough decisions.
As a result I was devastated and nearly clinically depressed. But I pulled it through. I had to...
My friend Penny always tells me: What doesn't kill us makes us stronger. I guess she is right.

When I came out of unexpected life's "tsunami", I faced another challenge: what now? I couldn't just seat and watch TV between cooking, cleaning the house and driving our teenager son to and from his activities. For the first time in 20 years I didn't have a job to apply my skills and exercise my brain.

My friend Lisa advised me to start a cooking blog as she seems to like my cooking. So few months after she first suggested blogging, I finally did it.
My blog is not only about cooking. It is about my adventures in the South. I am an optimist and I believe that any place has something to offer, either it's people, or it's history, or it's restaurants... or anything else...

Another reason to start the blog was a rather sad episode at the local supermarket when I saw a husband and wife  being lost in the produce department. Husband was diagnosed with diabetes, and doctor recommended to eat more vegetables. As I was filling my cart with kale, eggplants, collards, peppers, radishes, broccoli, cauliflower they asked me what do I do with it? I took my time to explain my plans for every vegetable in my cart. By the end of our conversation they added to their groceries a few vegetables too.

Leaving the store I was convinced to start the blog: to share with my friends the stories of the South, to encourage people in the South to eat healthy, and to inspire and motivate everyone who wants to loose weight, including myself.

I share my own recipes, my own photos, and my own stories. If I use someones work I always give a credit to the author.

I also love to have guests at home and on my blog pages. You are welcome to contact me:  tomatomarina@gmail.com


Marina