A lover of food, beauty, and living life. Attempting the impossible, cooking my way through life, and trying to show the world that there is nothing it cannot be expressed through food.
Anyone can cook, but only the fearless can be great. -Chef Gusteau Ratatouille 2007 film.
Hello, I’m Rose, the food-obsessed, food-loving, God-fearing, face behind An Expression of Food.
Currently, I reside in the Midwest on my family’s someday homestead. Where I spend my days, milking Bessy(our jersey cow), remodeling our fixer-upper 1937 farmhouse, working on my photography, and learning about growing my own food and living sustainably. And doing just about anything I can that involves food. Growing it, persevering it, talking about it, reading about it, cooking it, and of course eating it.
I fell in love with food when I was little, ever since I can remember I’ve loved food. From watching cooking shows over cartoons when I was five to reading more cookbooks cover to cover than I’d care to admit. I’ve always had a thing for food, always had a love for food. But somewhere along the way though I lost touch with food, and forgot about food. I got so caught up in day-to-day life that I forgot that possibly the best thing known to mankind was sitting right on my table.
Then a couple of years ago, during our family stay-cation and mid the covid lockdown, I was reminded how much I love food. And it was then, for the first time that I really started to cook. Of course, had cooked plenty before, but I had before thought of cooking as being anything special. This time was different, this time, cooking opened a whole new world to me, and I learned there was so much more to food than just food. Today I firmly believe that food can be applied to everything in life and that anything can be expressed through food.
To me, food is a culture, an art, a world all its own. Stories can be told through it, problems solved by it, love gained, troubles forgotten, and hope given. I learned that food is so much more than just the dishes we create, or the ingredients we used to create them. I learned, that every dish that is created is an expression of something, a different culture, a different place in time.
That recipes are so much more than just how to make something and what to put in it. they are stories and memories passed down through generations, who, what, and where, not a cup of this or that. I learned that food isn’t just something you buy from the store, it’s the blood sweat, and tears of those who grew it. It’s the gardening tips and tricks that your grandmother taught you. It’s the funny stories, of ‘remember that time we grew like hundred Tomatillos plants when we didn’t even know that they were’
I learned that it does matter where your food comes from. That fresh is always better, that there is a point to keeping potted herbs on the counter. That finding local farms to support is the best way to take your food to the next level, and cooking in season can change your world.
That chickens can be annoying, but fresh eggs are hard to beat. That cows aren’t always easy to milk but I wouldn’t trade fresh cream for the world. That I probably shouldn’t tell people I named my sourdough starter(his name is Steve) but fresh bread and homemade pizza crust have a way of making people forget how weird you really are.
And this my friends is how I ended up here in the first place. After years of loving food, creating recipes, attempting the impossible, and boring my family members with why I love food so much, I thought why not? Why not just do food? Share my love of food with the rest of the world, try to inspire others to look at food in a different way, to learn to love and appreciate food the way I believe we should.
On this blog, I will be sharing stories and thoughts on my journey through cooking. Lessons I’ve learned and mistakes I’ve made along the way, recipes I’ve created, and more about why I love food. I will be sharing all that happens as I aspire to my goals of cooking everything from scratch, learning how to store and perverse food properly, and learning how to make just about everything I possibly can right at home. And I hope that you will join me on this journey through food, life, cooking and I’m sure a good bit of nonsense along the way!
-Rose
For those wondering I try to post here twice a week, sharing new recipes, how-to posts, and occasional rants about food. Be sure to sign up for my newsletter so you never miss a post! You can also head over to my Instagram for the latest updates and hints at what’s headed to the blog.