And now I'm back with Arrainak!

I can't believe how many people these days simply cannot be bothered to come home and cook a decent meal for themselves... one from fresh, wholesome ingredients! In fact it astounds me how many young people are happy to settle for ready made or "instant" meal options that are available from supermarkets (most with hordes of additives, preservatives and WAY too much sodium) instead of spending a little time in the kitchen preparing something tasty and nutritious.

In my experience it is just as easy, less expensive and much more healthy to cook REAL FOOD and it's also fun, revitalizing and very rewarding. Especially when you have a nice loving partner who takes care of all the dishes in exchange! ;)

I LOVE FOOD and I am constantly looking for new culinary ideas, continually hunting down and creating new recipes as well as simplifying and refining them to my tastes. So after numerous requests to share my recipes I've started this food blog - I hope you enjoy it!

I grew up in a family that sat down to a sit down meal every single night. Both my parents share a profound interest in good food, cooking adventuresome meals and entertaining and I loved being a part of it... (and still I do!)

As a child, my adventures in the kitchen were more of the baking kind but somewhere along the way somebody must have recognized my interest in making food because at twelve years old I received a special gift of a little recipe binder in which I could clip and collect recipes into and write out the best ones on little index cards. From that moment I started to collect recipes and started edit them to my liking. I clipped them out of magazines and jotted them down in note form as I watched TV shows like The Frugal Gourmet and The Urban Peasant. The true test came when I moved out on my own and had to cook for myself every single day - what an adventure!

Fast forward twenty odd years and here I am, tweaking recipes until I get them just right, experimenting and cooking elaborate meals for my friends, happily embarking on a new adventure in the kitchen almost every night.

I live in Montreal, Quebec and by day I'm a Graphic Designer and Photographer but by evening I get to experiment as culinary artist and work at being a movie buff. I've been working towards compiling a collection of my family's traditional recipes from the Basque country and south west France for some time now. It's been slow going so hopefully writing out recipes here will help me get into gear - maybe one day down the road it might even get published and you can get a copy. You never know... reach for the treetops first, and then reach for the stars!