How-to Katie

Before I get started, I just wanted to give you all a peek into who I am. I'm 26 years young dwelling in Austin, TX. I'm originally from San Antonio, yet Austin feels like another world away. My favorite part of the city is it's vibrant foodie scene. It has that big city, yet small town feel, as does it's restaurants. There's a pretty nice variety of restaurants around town, though I'd argue that I still have yet to find a decent Indian food place. I pretty much won't go anywhere until I've checked it out on Yelp, though that too can sometimes be deceiving. And It's always a MUST to check out a place's menus as well. Only then, is it deemed worthy for me to try. With so many new restaurants always popping up around town, it takes a lot for me to want to go back to a place. This annoys my boyfriend, Jeremy, most times because it takes hours to research the answer to the "Where do you want to eat right now" question.

Whats my favorite drink? BUBBLE TEA!

My appetite for all things good began way back when I was about 10 years old. I was going out of the country for the first time to Ecuador and Peru. As naive and sheltered as a 10-year-old can be, you can imagine how much a third world country could change the whole outlook of life. That was also the kick to my wanderlust and appetite for other cultures. Wherever you are in the world, overtime, people have always remained true to their cuisine. Food is a trigger to so many things like feeling at home, memories, tradition, ceremonial, etc. Whether rich or poor, food nourishes the soul, which makes it very important past the point of survival. My time in Ecuador and Peru exposed me to new ways of life and interesting foods like cuy, or your commonly known farm-to-table guinea pig. After that, I was hooked and went on with the notion that I would try anything anywhere. I continued, eating chili pan-seared crickets in Cambodia, calve's brain, heart and spleen in Morocco and haggis in Scotland, to name a few. 25+ countries later, I'm here always looking for the next best dish and fresh idea.

When I was 15, I worked as an assistant server in a wine bar and restaurant my sister managed. It was a great place to be with my curious taste buds, especially when the chefs experimented on us. I love to cook as well, but life doesn't always lend me the time to as much as I'd like. Every week, I try to engage in SOME sort of meal prepping, though. Oh, and did I mention I can and will NEVER pass up a chocolate chip cookie?

These days, I'm an assistant sound engineer for a post production studio in Austin. I've helped worked on TV and radio commercials, as well as film. It's been pretty amazing getting to work with professionals like Matthew McConaughey and Kyle Chandler (Bloodline). I'd love to find myself working as a sound designer one day for horror films, but who knows?

I also love anything creative: design, art, music, photography, fashion etc. I love learning new things, always challenging myself and becoming a jack-of-all trades. Lately, I've learned to cross-stitch and weave, which have both been really fun!

I have a diva of a cat named Pumpkin, who is a CH (Cerebellar Hypoplasia) kitty with the sweetest personality. She loves to snuggle and is the love of my life....as well as my boyfriend, Jeremy! We've been together 3 1/2 years and counting and hope to move to Portland, OR soon. We also have a catahoula named Landry. The photo you see below is a very rare sighting of the 2 animals in the same space...not moving.