Welcome to Ginger!

Let's start with some introductions, before you get too deep into this, you should really know what it is you are getting into!

I have 3 guys in my life.

You will hear a LOT about them. Seriously. You may get sick of it, but this is us, forever and ever, amen.

So without further ado please let me introduce my cast of characters, my gravity, my heart, and my reason for feeding.

The husband; AKA Bob, BuhBah, or the Big Man-

This handsome fella is my most favorite person on this planet to feed.

When he is eating something truly delicious, he gets an angry look on his face, it will never stop making me laugh.

He is great at coming up with theme dinners, loves all things festive and he is the mastermind behind Date Night Dins and Turkey-Hat-Thanksgiving-Eve-Prep-A-Party-Night.

What can I say? He is kind of a big deal.

The Grandfather; AKA Papaw, Grandpal or the Old Man- He is 89 yrs old and so damn chipper and optimistic it amazes me.

He always has a smile and a joke always at the ready. He loves my food, but he is not afraid to tell me if something needs tweaked, he was my first cooking coach and patiently encouraged me and some of my more questionable experiments.

His smoked sausage-potato-corn chowder is the stuff of legends and food dreams and despite years of attempts, I still cannot come close.

He taught me how to make my first cocktail (a proper manhattan) and we still meet every Thursday for Manhattans, dinner and stellar chit chat.

Papaw played dual roles in my life, serving as Grandfather he also stepped into the role of "Father" many times. He is a large part of the voice in my head and there is not a day that goes by that I am not incredibly grateful for his ever steady presence, gentle support and unlimited love.

The Ginger: My son Joseph, AKA RED, Gingersnap, The Great and Mighty Red One, and just simply, JR

He is weird, amazing, funny, smart, impatient, fiery, strong willed, kind, and deeply, deeply compassionate and loving. He is a technicolor, fully animated jokester, with a million different faces, a sharp wit, and a natural born curiosity that is always demanding to be fed. He is also my sidekick in the kitchen, the inspiration for the blog name, and still (thankfully) a total mama’s boy.

JR is the reason I am doing this whole shebang. If no one else ever reads this little project, I am ok with it just being a loving time capsule for him. A piece of me that will stay in the interwebs for him to be truly embarrassed about for ever and ever.

I love these guys more than pie.

Then there is moi, thanks for coming to play in the kitchen with me! Here is what you should know!

I am Carrie Mason, a home cook from the suburbs of Philly, I am not a chef or a professional cook! In fact, I have no actual training when it comes to cooking or baking, other than what I learned from my family growing up, and from being basically obsessed with food from a very young age. So yeah, I have no qualifications for writing recipes, but I can tell you this, I have failed a lot, so hopefully you don't have to!

I have had a wide range of jobs, some have been really interesting and some have been pretty soul crushing. For 15 years I also worked a second job as a bartender at a local corner bar, it was not glamorous. I was not a mixologist or craft cocktail designer, I slung shots and beers and the occasional Sex on the Beach when the fluffy haired under-agers stumbled in.

**Yeah, we will do some drinking on this page, too. Get ready.**

Here are some of my secrets:

I am a bad-action-movie junky and I love trashy TV but I am not a fan of reality TV, no I do not know what happened on The Bachelor, I am not sorry about that.

I have never learned how to drive a car. So, I do not drive. Ever. But, I am still a work in progress. Maybe one day I will get over the crushing fear and that will be a big deal...like seriously, a huge deal. Buhbah will probably throw a party. A big one.

I am a hair chameleon-I have this overwhelming urge to always change it, and only my hairdresser knows what is really going on under there after all these years.

I am loud. I have been told more times than I care to admit to "keep it down" Well nope, I won't, no one puts baby in a corner. Actually that's not a secret at all, but a reminder. I am loud, and curse-y.

I love most foods, but won't touch an avocado, or bother with a banana, they both gross me out. I used to eat them both, and I would go so far as saying I enjoyed them! But then pregnancy happened, and food aversions are weird, I had lots of them...these two never went away. What can I say, I am a real head scratcher.

Actually, I am pretty basic, there will most likely be people that read this blog and dub it basic bitch starter pack for food bloggers, they are probably accurate in their assessment.

My most favorite thing in the whole wide world to do, is to just sit. Sit on my deck with Papaw, Buhbah and JR and watch the day slip away, sipping on a bourbon, sharing laughs, and having a big ole piece of pie.

We will make pie here too. It will be fucking delicious.

Thanks for reading, if you have stuck around this far, we are going to be good friends. I promise, food is coming! Lots of it!