Dinner with Kirsten

So. . . this is how you start a food blog. . .

Why dinner with Kirsten? Believe me, if I woke up every morning with time on my hands I would cook pancakes and cupcakes all day long. But the reality is that I work 9:00 to 5:30—I eat Trader Joe’s Oatmeal or Kashi Cereal every morning and my lunch alternates between sandwich, soup or salad. By the time dinner rolls around, I’m ready to have some fun with my food. I’m a former culinary intern/prep chef, a freelance Web producer for Bon Appétit, an aspiring food writer/editor, and I try not to let a busy schedule (or a tight budget) stand between me and a great dinner.

My co-chef is Geoff, my boyfriend. Whenever it’s my turn to be Chef de Cuisine at Geoff’s Brooklyn Apartment Bistro (we do most of our cooking at Geoff’s), he usually slides into the role of Garde Manger. He makes amazing salads, and staunchly refuses to eat plain lettuce with bottled dressing (which I call Kirsten’s Farmhouse Special Salad) or use any kind of store bought crust (pie, tart, quiche, pizza), even if it means we’ll be eating at midnight.

Whether we cook or eat out, dinner is our meal. It involves a negotiation process (usually carried out through email and text message), juggling what I like, what he likes, if we want to go shopping and what we both happen to feel like eating every evening. It’s work, but dinner is how we relax and reconnect after a long day. And most of the time we have fun.