About

Welcome to Karen's Kitchen Stories

Hi, I'm Karen, author of Karen's Kitchen Stories. This blog is a chronicle of recipes I have successfully attempted (and sometimes unsuccessfully). It all started with a kitchen remodel, a sourdough loaf, and an old camera. 

Once I got a new kitchen, I had to use it, right? I started my blog to chronicle my cooking adventures. I am particularly obsessed with bread baking, especially sourdoughs.  

This blog is a hobby and my way of documenting recipes I've tried. I am not an expert cook and usually make a big mess in the kitchen the first time I try a new dish.  

About me: 

I live in Southern California, where I have spent my entire life. I'm a recruiter and HR lady by day and also teach college classes part time.  I'm married, have two grown children and two grandsons who live very close by (yay!).  These boys have inspired me to keep a large supply of sprinkles in the house (the youngest one has been known to "drink" the sprinkles right out of the jar).  I am so blessed to have these boys in my life. 

About the food and the recipes:

The recipes in this blog are adapted from my overly large cookbook collection, magazines, other blogs, family recipes, and some recipes that are my own creation. I always give credit to the original source if I can find it, I always use my own photos, and I always write the instructions in my own words. My ingredients list and instructions include what I did and may have some changes from the original source. How can you tell how much I have changed a recipe? Look for the following words:

• Slightly adapted from = I made very few changes. 
• Adapted from = I made some changes, sometimes with the ingredient list, and sometimes with the technique. I also may have converted volume measurements to weight. 
• Inspired by = I have made a lot of changes but I still want to give credit to the original author for the inspiration. 

If you are a blogger and are inspired to make one of the recipes from this blog, be sure to use your own photos and your own words and link back to my post.  I'd be honored if one of my posts inspired you!

About the photos:

I take all of the photos on this blog. I still need to learn a lot more about my camera as well as post processing. It's on my long list of things to do. 

If you'd like to use one of my photos, please ask for my permission. I usually say "yes" as long as you post the photo only and provide a link back to my blog and you do not post the recipe.  

I love it and am thrilled when you "pin" my photos to Pinterest as long as you  do not remove the link back to my blog and you do not copy and paste the recipe into the comments section. 

Where else can you find me?

I'm on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter.

I'd love it if you would follow me for updates. 

FYI, my Twitter account is a combination of my interests, including sharing a lot of HR and job search information along with posts about cooking. 

Amazon Store and Ads:

Karen's Kitchen Stories is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees linking to Amazon.com. If you purchase something from Amazon via a link on this site or on my Amazon Store, I may receive a very small commission in Amazon store credit at no extra charge to you. Unless otherwise stated, I personally own, use, and recommend the items in my Amazon store. 

What is my favorite thing to make?

Bread, of course. 

I also love reading bread books and networking with other bread bakers. We are an obsessed lot. For more information about the joy of baking your own bread, check out this post.

To find all of my bread baking posts, check out my comprehensive index here. 

Any questions, comments, opportunities? You can contact me at karenskitchenstories at gmail dot com.