Hi Dear Reader!
My name is Janet Taylor, and I’m the founder and editor at Cooky Aunty. I’m glad you are part of our lovely online community. This is a website that aims to help you live a simpler, happier, and way tastier life! Here you will find everything you need to improve your lifestyle and your relationship with food. The articles and reviews are designed to guide you through all your cooking adventures. I’d like to tell you how Cooky Aunty was born!
An origin story
Growing up on the West Coast, my family had lots of contact with foods from foreign places and, since I was a little child, I loved it all! I used to sit in the kitchen while my Grandma and my Mom created heritage food, and I still remember the delicious smells that came from the pan every time my Dad made Asian dishes. It wasn’t long before I was holding a (mostly blunt!) knife of my own and chopping onions and cabbages myself.
Bit by bit, I learned how to make tasty meals that would make my family happy and create special moments together. Predictably, years later I decided to go into the food business professionally and became a kitchen assistant. In time, I rose through the ranks, but always felt that something was lacking— the connection with the food and the customers. I was just not completely happy working a demanding, complicated job in which I had no contact with the actual eating experience. So I decided to quit.
A growing phase in life
After leaving the professional cooking world, I decided to take it slow and stay at home for a while. I had no kids of my own, but my brothers and sisters had more than enough! The kids loved coming around to my place and I, too, loved the lighthearted company as I tried to figure out how I could do something meaningful with my life.
I couldn’t stay out of the kitchen for too long, though! I soon found myself in the company of my lovely nieces and nephews, cooking up dishes from around the world and teaching them how to help me make them. It was when I started to notice the wonder in their eyes and how they loved to create their own tasty food that I reconnected with my true purpose.
Getting a broader picture
I had never been so poignantly aware of how disconnected we, as a society, are from the food that nourishes us. “No fast food in this house!”, I decreed. And, as long as we kept cooking entertaining recipes, my little ones were happy to oblige. I felt happy knowing that I was teaching them how to have a healthy and fun relationship with what they eat. I knew it would last them for the rest of their lives.
But then I started feeling like it just was not enough. My first responsibility and love, of course, is to the members of my family, but I simply knew the world at large needs to change the way it relates to food in order to have richer, fuller lives.
I started exploring new, surprising cuisines from around the world, simplifying old recipes, testing out exciting ways to do the same things. Exploring. I told my friends how much fun I was having, and made it a point to share my journey with them. One day, a dear friend asked me, “Janet, why aren’t you writing a blog already?”. I gaped. Why, indeed, wasn’t I?
The beginnings of Cooky Aunty
And just like that, this website was born. At first, I had no idea what to call it. But then I realized that my inspiration and my anchor were my little nephews and nieces. They had helped me rediscover my passion and my dreams. What I wanted to bring the world was that connection, that playful spirit that we always had when cooking up something together. And that’s how Cooky Aunty came to be!
Here, you will find easy instructions for buying, storing, preparing, and cooking my favorite, popular delicious ingredients to make amazing dishes that will wow everyone in the house. No experience in the kitchen? No worries! I will guide you through every simple recipe and tutorial in a fun, straightforward way. I promise you: it will be so entertaining that it will seem like no work at all.
If you are like me, you like to keep things as uncomplicated as they can be. When you go to get a new kitchen device or product that you sorely need, you get bewildered by the enormous variety of options and don’t know what you should choose. I get it— that is why you will find, on this very site, detailed reviews and buying guides for the best among popular kitchen products and gadgets.
Cooking: The path to a better life
Life should be fun, simple, and enjoyable. Mealtimes should not be stressful events— rather, times to connect with the colors, smells, and flavors of the world around us. They should be times when we can relax and nourish our bodies and our relationships with family and loved ones.
The purpose of Cooky Aunty is to make your life simpler and more fun. It is to help you reconnect with a basic human activity that unites us all: the loving act of preparing delicious meals. Let’s all explore together and cheers to the journey!