Every so often, we're highlighting a local or regional blogger we think you ought to know about. We can’t be everywhere at once, so we look to these passionate eaters, cooks and writers to keep us tapped into every facet of the food world. Consider this a way to get to know a blog’s taste buds, because, well, you should.

Who: Merry-Jennifer Markham, of the merry gourmet
Where: Gainesville, Florida
Twitter: @merrymed

Over seven years ago, I became pregnant with my first child, and my thoughts about food and cooking started to change. Let me clarify that statement: when I became pregnant, I began to HAVE thoughts about food and cooking. Until then, cooking was just something that had to be done - a chore.

Though my interest in cooking came much later, I’ve always loved food. I have vivid recollections from my childhood - scattered amongst memories of tuna noodle casseroles and blue-box macaroni and cheese - that I’m certain helped to spark the interest I have in food and cooking today. Like it was only just yesterday, I can easily recall baking fresh yeasty soft pretzels with a babysitter, sitting by a bonfire as my parents roasted oysters during a fall oyster roast and taking my first sip of Dom Perignon at age twelve (just a sip, mind you).

These bits and pieces of taste memory tucked themselves away in my subconscious, only to be buried as life got hectic during my college years and beyond. It was just too easy to open up a box, pop the lid of a jar or pick up the phone to order take-out. My microwave and I became entirely too familiar. By the time my husband and I decided to have children, I had convinced myself that I could not cook.

And then, I became pregnant. Having my daughter, almost seven years ago, made me realize that I didn’t want her following in my example - eating frozen microwaveable dinners; only making boxed spaghetti with pasta sauce out of a jar; living on Chinese take-out. I wanted needed to step into the kitchen again, after years of avoiding it for so long. I wanted to stop being afraid of cooking, afraid of not getting it right.

I started the merry gourmet when I realized that I needed some extra creativity in my life to balance myself.  As a full-time working mother of two, my focus is on family-friendly recipes. I’m not averse to using convenience appliances, like a slow cooker or a pressure cooker for risotto. I like to challenge myself with dishes on my "never-made-before-but-must-try" list, such as gnocchi and gougères. And, in rediscovering and mastering old family recipes - like chess pie, cornbread dressing and banana pudding - I’ve learned the value in passing down culinary traditions from generation to generation.

So, I’m fully entrenched in the kitchen, and my two children - Madeline (almost 7) and Oliver (age 4) - are watching. They pull up chairs to the kitchen counter and ask lots of questions. They want to help with every step, and they love every minute of it. Every time I cook - whether it ends up as a blog post or not– I’m passing on this tradition to them. And I love every minute of it.

And in the interest of full disclosure, I still enjoy good Chinese take-out.

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