My name is Cecilia Pramberg Priebe and I love food! I love eating food, cooking food, shopping for food, thinking about food, talking about food, watching others cook… I even peek into other people's shopping carts at the grocery store because I'm so curious about what other people eat.

Food is something that all people have in common, for natural reasons. Everyone has to eat! And our relationship with food says something, or a lot, about who we are and what values we have. It is never something I have given much attention to. What feels important to me is the creative, pleasurable and aesthetic aspect of being in the kitchen every day and cooking. Even if it sometimes has to be done quickly, I still want the result to be something to enjoy at the table.

At a very young age, I “cooked” food in the sandbox in an upside-down Frisbee that became the frying pan. I was very involved in collecting different “spices” and “vegetables”. Some plants looked like dill, dandelion leaves became lettuce and the sand became minced meat. I made my own pickles with what I found. I put the plants in a small bucket or a glass jar, covered them with water – waited. And after a few days it started to smell really sour. Sure enough! I promise that no one had shown me how to make sourdough or pickle vegetables. Yet the game was obvious and natural – collect what was in nature, cook it, eat it.

Another fond food memory is a book my parents read to me. The book was called “The Country Mouse and the City Mouse”, an adapted version of one of Aesop’s fables. One day, the practical country mouse receives a message that the sophisticated city mouse is coming to visit. The country mouse immediately sets about cleaning and sweeping the house. He catches a fish, harvests vegetables in his garden and whips up a delicious meal that he shares with his guest. This little episode speaks to something primal in me. To use your own hands to create something and then share it with someone else is about creativity, hospitality and community. For me, cooking has always been a selfless creative act where my goal is to share and enjoy together, regardless of whether it’s everyday life or a party.

I hope to inspire more cooking, a good meal, a lot of growing and a lot of reading. Preferably together with the children if you have any in your vicinity. With this blog I try to unite the passions of my life - growing, cooking, eating, reading.