About

Hello! I’m Brinn Hodack. I have two crazy boys and am married to the love of my life! My husband Jeremiah is patient, smart, hardworking and so DIY talented. We love having all kinds of adventures together as a family, and our energetic, curious boys ensure that some type of excitement is happening constantly.

I come from a long line of foodies, and the gene didn’t skip me! I love all things food–cooking, sampling, sharing, you name it! Our extended family get-togethers have always included a feast of some sort, and at home growing up, the kitchen is where we came together most. Because of this, I associate food with family, and have many cherished memories of fun times we shared together over preparing and enjoying a good meal. To me, making food for someone is a way of communicating: love, appreciation, friendship, empathy, concern, celebration, even sorrow. There is so much emotion wrapped up in the art of planning, preparing, and sharing a meal, because of the circumstances and sensations surrounding it, that the memories and the meal often become intertwined. (Cue: birthday cakes topped with flickering candles, ham and creamy potatoes donated by neighbors for a funeral (in this pocket of the world, at least), Thanksgiving turkey and sides, sweet confections at Christmas, the list goes on.)

In my experience, food is a link that brings people and families together. In addition, the food traditions we share as a family often reflect aspects of our heritage that may have been forgotten–or that we carefully cherish as traditions to preserve that heritage–but whether knowingly or unknowingly, those recipes can connect us as a family with our ancestral past. In learning about the history of both the food traditions we enjoy as well as the ancestors who made them, we can connect in a more personal and individual way with prior generations who helped shape us and our world into what they are today. In a way, connecting hands-on with the past is as much a journey of self-discovery as it is one of understanding our predecessors.

I came up with the idea for this blog after my grandmother loaned me a tall stack of binders stuffed with recipes she had clipped and compiled over the years–recipes she loved were highlighted and annotated, and there were also handwritten recipe cards of her own, her mother’s, and others. I was working on compiling the favorite “tried-and-true” family recipes to share as a digital cookbook with family, when it occurred to me that it would be fun to share it in blog format–with photos, background info, my experience cooking it, etc. I got so excited about the idea, that I talked to my grandma to get the the “go ahead,” and started working on setting up the blog the same day. I can’t wait to embark on this fun, interactive journey to learn about, honor, and connect with my ancestors and family, one recipe at a time.

Let the family food adventure begin.