Julie’s food blog.

My name is Julie Mangum, and it has taken me twenty five years to admit that people like to eat when they come to my house. I’m not trying to brag in anyway, but it’s time I accept the fact that cooking is one of the things I can do well. I’m ready to share my recipes.

None of my recipes are hard, or complicated, or time-consuming, or fancy. These are dishes you can prepare with your children. But at the risk of sounding like I’m bragging, these are recipes that people who come to my house love.

The names of many of the dishes in this blog have been lost. I was told the proper names for each recipe when they were shared with me, but they were lost a long time ago. The names of our favorite dishes slowly changed to names that little children and a silly husband found easier to remember.

I was raised in Sinaloa Mexico, and I was brought up in a tradition of great cooking. My mother’s kitchen was a place of great activity. My mother is a great cook. So are my sisters. We loved to gather in Mom’s kitchen to laugh and cook and talk and eat. Shared recipes were a matter of arguments and demonstrations.

Now I have a family of my own, and I’m trying to pass on this tradition of great cooking to my own children. Now my kids like to be in the kitchen with me suggesting changes to recipes, experimenting with spices and laughing and sampling and even arguing about how things should be done. Even my husband gets involved, and cooking is NOT one of his talents. But that’s what I love about family recipes, they include everyone and anyone who wants to participate.

I’m going to try to keep this blog fun. I have things to say other than just recipes. And I’m hoping to get lots of feedback an input from readers.