Hey My name is BJ Nace. I am a mother of 3 awesome boys and have been cooking our family meals for over 30 years. I have lived in: Massachusetts, Connecticut, California, Hawaii, Pennsylvania, Missouri and currently North Carolina. I have taken regional foods as well as ethnic foods and incorporated them into my recipe box (which is really a large ziplock bag). I love to cook and have people over for dinner, but I like to stay casual with entertaining so I don’t get too stressed out.
My husband Greg is lactose intolerant, so many of my recipes do not contain dairy, or have suggestions and substitutions for anyone who is also lactose intolerant.
All the dishes on the blog have been prepared by me, and photographed by my son, Aaron Nace. I have made these dishes time after time, and for a picky household nonetheless.
We come from a family with a large heritage in cooking, My husband’s 3 sisters are also chefs who have won numerous cooking awards. I hope to inspire the next generation. The impetus behind this project is that my kids and their friends are in their 20’s and are coming to realize that they don’t know how to cook (or at least their friends don’t).
I have often heard complaints that their mother’s don’t cook, so how were they supposed to learn. That does not hold water with me, my mother was the world’s worst cook. She had no skill, no interest, and no imagination. She was a kind, loving woman who would do anything for anyone, if it didn’t involve a stove.
I started cooking around the age of 15, primarily as self-defense. My mother’s typical dinner was: throw naked chicken under the broiler, slap it on a plate and voila-chicken for dinner. Ditto with steak, fish, hamburgers etc. The first dinner I made was lasagne-ok so it was canned sauce, but at least I used multiple pans and ingredients. It was wonderful-finally food that came out of that kitchen that was edible! I was hooked, it was my first contact with decent food that didn’t come out of a restaurant! As the saying goes, what did my mother make well for dinner? Reservations!
Dahling, this is wonderful. I love seeing your stuff. Susan