About Me
An avid connoisseur of all things culinary, I have been in the restaurant industry for more than a decade. I’ve worn every hat from FOH to BOH, dishwasher to delivery driver, prepper to bartender, cook to General Manager. And everything in between!
I have spent a lifetime cultivating skills in the kitchen, both personally and professionally. Largely spawned out of the freedom that working in restaurants provides and a plethora of food allergies, sensitivities, and self-imposed ethically sustainable dietary restrictions.
I started this webside and YouTube vlog during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic as a way to impart and inspire the same desire to cook with others. As well as to be uniquely you in the process.
So wear that cat as a hat, roll up your sleeves, and let's get cracking!
The Crew
Having this much fun while cooking would not be the same without the plants, animals, friends, and colleagues that I surround myself. Since you will undoubtedly see the fur babies during this endeavor, this is the rest of the crew:
Secilly
Secilly is an avid food-lover and couch potato. Best known for her olympic-level lounging abilities and never-ending purring skills. At 11 years old and living life to the fullest, I often call her my "Best Girl."
Bridget
Bridget is the most affectionate rescue dog that you will never meet. At 13 years old, she is a self-proclaimed homebody who enjoys nothing more than curling up with a good blanket and calling it a day.
Esméralda
Esméralda is the newest addition to the family. Adopted in May 2020, she has brought a lot of light into a world in chaos. And is my ever-present cooking companion. Although her cooking skills are a work in progress.
Catfish Out of Water Content
I do this blog entirely on my own. It is not sponsored and there are no other people involved in its creation. I don't get paid or compensated in any way, shape, or form. The blog merely serves as a way to free up space in my brain!
The worst thing is making something absolutely delicious, forgetting to write down exactly what you did to get there, and then never being able to make it again. So, as odd as it might sound, it really is a lot easier to just write everything down, take take pictures of recipes as I go, and then compile them in an easily searchable format.
We sometimes like to think of our brains as vast encyclopedias of knowledge and that cooking skills are inherently cemented in there. While cooking is something that you can cultivate and, the more you do it, the more you do pick up on certain methodologies that you take with you over time. If I need to make a roux, I don't have to go and look up how to do it because it is the same basic thing time after time.
However, exactly what ingredients I put into a curry that I made years ago? That's something that I either wrote down or lost to the ravages of time!
That's why I always try to write things down and take pictures of my food. But even that can be irksome to my future self. Did I write it down on a post-it note that I now have to find? Is it in a journal? Did I open up a cookbook? Can I search for it on a document on my computer? Do I only have snapshots of certain angles of images that I then have to piece together to try and figure out what's in it and what I did??
Hence the food blog.
And, if it helps anyone else learn to cook or discover new and interesting recipes? Then, that makes it worth it.
Plus, we all need a hobby. And it's the summer of 2020, so we're all under quarantine.
Catfish Out of Water Posts
I post Recipes every Thursday and Sunday at 11am. If I'm making several individual elements to go into a single dish, I'll post the first at 11am and then subsequent recipes at 2pm and 5pm.
This gives me ample time to get the posts out in as timely a manor as possible, without getting overwhelmed by what has quickly become a very extensive hobby! I try to keep posts as close to real-time as possible in order to keep seasonal produce still seasonal. Although, depending on how much I'm cooking and blogging, I may be a couple of weeks behind real time.
I also post Articles on the 1st and 15th of every month at noon.
Having worked in the culinary field for more than half of my life, I'm constantly going on food rants to friends and co-workers who may or may not find these things as endlessly fascinating as I do! So, in the effort to get this information out to those who may actually find it fascinating? And because I'm likely going to go on about topics that I find fascinating whether anyone reads it or not! They're available to all of you.
If you're scrolling through posts, recipes will have a full featured image. Whereas articles will have a half image in order to easily distinguish them. Some articles may also have a recipe at the bottom of the page. In these posts, there will be information on the origin of the dish, tips and tricks for how to make it, and a basic recipe guide. Otherwise, most articles also link to recipe pages.
Want to See More?
As an addition to this website, I also a Catfish Out of Water YouTube channel that features videos exploring the concept of answering life’s most important trivial questions.