Why the name Rumble In The Kitchen?

I get asked why I picked the name Rumble In The Kitchen (RITK) from time to time. It came about because I announced on a message board that as a New Year's Resolution I was going to start a cooking blog. Another poster, a pretty darn great cook herself, joked that my blog was going to be better than the blog she has started for the same reason. We joked back and forth and someone, not even sure who at this point, said that there was going to be a rumble. Then it came to me and Rumble In The Kitchen was born!

But it turned out to be very fitting. I "rumble" through my pantry and kitchen all the time. My friend Robin has told me that I have a knack for looking at what ingredients we have on hand and figuring out what to put together to make something yummy. I joke with my husband that it's a rumble each time I try to cook when there isn't someone else here to wrangle the toddler from running under my feet and driving me nuts! I've also been known to rumble with a recipe a time or two. I won't post an original recipe if I'm not sure that it's pretty much fool proof so I've been known to make the same thing as many as ten times to make sure the recipe is right. Heck...my kids could care less if they ever eat cinnamon rolls again because they are so sick of them and I need to make the recipe at least one more time before I can post it. (If anyone in the Twin Cities wants to taste test please let me know! I think I've burned out my neighbors too!)

I don't pretend to be a chef, I'm just a woman who has a passion for food. I think about it all the time and get no greater pleasure than watching people enjoy my food. The recipes I have are just real food made with real ingredients. Because of what I have learned over the years I have chosen to use as many whole food ingredients as possible. I'm not against all processed foods, heck I like a white flour, full fat, sugar laden donut as much as the next person! I just try as hard as I can to find balance. I can promise you that there are a few things you will never find in any of my recipes, MSG (I'm even looking for a replacement for all of the recipes I have that call for canned condensed soups), "fake" or artificial sugars and cilantro. The first two are because they aren't good for anyone. The last of the list is because I am allergic. Little quirky fact that adds to making me who I am.

So that's how RITK became RITK. It wasn't as easy as just writing and trying recipes though. I have come to learn that there is a lot more to blogging than just writing. To have a beautiful blog and one that invites people to want to keep reading it needs to be nice to look at. In that respect I am spoiled! I can cook, I can bake...but I can not do web or graphic design. Lucky for me my very dear friend Amanda can and does. She designed the blog layout, the blog tags and anything else you see here that looks pretty. I finally convinced her that she needs to do this for real and she recently opened up shop with Greenspired Designs. Make sure you check out the beautiful work that she does and you can see why I feel very blessed and thankful to have such talented friends.

I hope you enjoy RITK. In the last year or so it has grown to be more than I ever dreamed. I am now getting over 100 hits a day and that gives me such joy. I hope people are finding the recipes useful and enjoying the time they spend rumbling in their own kitchens. Sharing food to me is such a bonding experience...and in the end what matters more than the time we spend with family and friends? Is there really anything more important than family, friends, health and happiness? Not to me. Have a great day and don't forget to take time to enjoy.