About Me and Contact

I should have known I was destined for a lifelong love for food from the moment my mother found me as a six year old standing in the garage with ice cream and caramel dripping from my fingers and face, pieces of waffle cone in my hair, and a helmet strapped to my head. I was supposed to be on my bike riding down to the park for a soccer game, but there was a new flavor of Haagen Dazs in the garage freezer and clearly the ice cream had to come first. This love for food evolved into a love for cooking, and before long, my last minutes of every school day were spent anxiously waiting for the bell to ring so I could run home and watch Food Network.

My cooking techniques improved and my food became a bit more sophisticated as I grew up. By the time I got to college, I negotiated my way out of the mandatory school meal plan so I could make Pan Seared Scallops with Bacon Jam in my dorm room instead of eating undercooked cafeteria pizza for dinner. I became known as “That Food Lady” who made aromas of garlic and shallots waft throughout the halls of my dorm, where my peers would frequently pop their heads into the kitchen and ravenously say, “Mmmm…that smells DIVINE!!!”

I earned an honors BA in Economics at the University of Rochester in May 2010, and started to work for a finance firm after graduation.  It didn’t feel right. I loved food and wanted to do something involving cooking.

So that’s when I decided to create this blog, named after my large collection of my favorite kitchen tool, the beloved spatula.  I had long been peeved by the large number of recipes lacking proper guidance and explanation of what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and how to do it properly, so this is the place to find step-by-step recipes daily Monday-Friday.  I try to explain food technique without getting into heavy science Alton Brown territory.

I’ve had unexpected opportunities along the way, like being flown to the Food Network Studios in NYC to film a cooking demo with Kelsey Nixon, airing as part of the Cooking Channel series The Perfect 3.  Here’s my blog post detailing that.

I’m still looking for representation and a work opportunity in the food world, but in the meantime, I love working on my blog.  Thanks for visiting!

Random Joanne facts:
*I don’t like cereal.  Do I look like a bird to you? Okay, not ALL cereals taste like bird food, but a lot do.
*My favorite ingredient is the egg. Eggs never cease to amaze me, and I use them all the time.
*The happiest place on Earth is not Disney World according to me.  It’s Whole Foods =)

Feel free to catch me on my twitter www.twitter.com/FifteenSpatulas or contact me at FifteenSpatulas[at]gmail.com.

Youtube Channel:  http://www.youtube.com/user/FifteenSpatulas

RSS feed: http://fifteenspatulas.com/feed/