Welcome!

Thank you for joining me!

This is my inaugural post where I hope to explain a bit of what's going on while things get going. See, I've been maintaining an Instagram page for a few years now where I post pictures of different meals I made. I called it Foodikaze, because I misread something and thought that word was funny. Originally, I was doing this as a way for myself to be able to recall things to make later - you know, make grocery shopping easier and that kind of thing - but I pretty quickly realized that I wasn't able to remember exactly what I did, especially when I made things that were "trash meals," or just using things that I found in my fridge. Waste not, and all that jazz.

Around the same time, I noticed my posts were actually gaining a bit of attention, which was kinda cool. Over time, though, I had people ask me to start posting the recipes. I decided that it made sense - after all, that way I could remember them, as well. You know what's a real pain in the ass to do on Instagram, though? Post recipes. Unfortunately, this really slowed down my posting and eventually killed my motivation altogether.

Then, the COVID-19 Pandemic hit, and here we are. I wouldn't necessarily say that I have "more" time right now, as I am still fortunate enough to be working full time, albeit from home, while also continuing to teach Krav Maga (virtually, of course), study yoga (also virtually), stay active in some of my volunteer work, and keeping up on my true crime obsession, but I definitely needed a creative outlet. I really ramped up my cooking and baking. Whereas before I was making a new dinner 3 to 4 nights a week and surviving off of quick meals or leftovers for lunch and other meals, I have suddenly found myself in much greater need of some tasty, varied, nutritious comfort. And thus, my kitchen became a pretty constant mess of dishes, pots, and pans as I started crafting new dishes nearly every night. Another pretty big change has been that I've been able to look at several versions of different recipes and pick and choose techniques, ingredients, and flare from them, or flat out crafting my own. Admittedly, some of these have been flops, but there have also been some pretty damn pleasant surprises, too.

Fuzzy Gremlin - Foodikaze's original mascot!

So, a few nights ago, I had the not-so-unique idea to try setting up a blog that I could more easily post these recipes to. I've always enjoyed web and graphic design, so, ya know, why not? And thus, Mixed was born. That's right! This labor of love bubbled forth from the primordial ooze of disorganization, boredom, and a global pandemic. The fuzzy little gremlin you see right here is the profile image I'd had since the day I first conceived of Foodikaze. I realized that, unfortunately, he didn't translate all that well into a logo, so I'm putting him up here to ensure that the infinite cuteness can still be appreciated.

Anyway, for the next couple of days, I'm hoping to translate the few Instagram-posted recipes I had over to this blog while posting some of my pandemic cooking. What'll happen once I'm allowed back into the wild that will be post-COVID New York City? Who the heck knows, but I am hoping to maintain it on an at least semi-monthly basis. Over time, I'm sure this blog will evolve, I'm hoping I gain some new skills (particularly around photography and plating), and in time I'm sure my living situation will change, which will mix things up all over again. What I can promise you, is that I will never be motivated enough to write long, drawn-out stories about my journey to discovering the special ingredients that make a recipe complete, or some spiritual fuzz about how this plate or that will help re-align your chakras if you start the process at 4:03 PM six nights before the full moon. You'll get a quick intro and then straight to the damn recipe. Because c'mmon. We all know nobody actually wants to read all that other stuff. We just feel obligated...

For now, you'll notice that many of these recipes are designed to yield only a few servings. That's largely because both of my roommates are fuzzy, four-legged felines who are not allowed to partake in such meals, and beyond that, I live alone. Some of my previous recipes that will make their way here were designed to feed two with leftovers, but that chapter of my life is (quite fortunately) behind me. If this becomes a long-term blog, I'm sure things will scale up again, but for now, if you wish to recreate any of these for a larger audience, anything can be easily doubled, tripled, or (if you're truly nutty) quadrupled.

Over the next couple of weeks, I'm hoping to post some fun things, so keep an eye out! Until then, stay safe, stay well, and stay the fuck inside!

The stars of the show! Kat (left) and Frank (aka the Fuzzy Gremlin, right)