¡Hola! I’m Amanda, aka “Gouramanda.” Since I was a little girl, a certain culinary intrigue has guided my path into the boundless world of food and cooking. I fondly recall spending balmy summer days in Arkansas with my great grandmother, harvesting cucumbers, tomatoes, and okra from her backyard garden and gathering pecans like candy that had recently fallen from a bruised and battered piñata. I remember watching in bewilderment as she would transform these God-given vegetables into beautiful dishes that would gather us together, or preserve them in a sweet, unexpected way so that her memory would endure long after she was gone.
I have always been drawn to the inextricable connection between food and family/community. What lights my fire, apart from the creative allure of cooking, is the seamless way in which it unites people. Delicious food ushers in community, which naturally begets rich conversation. Since becoming a mother last November, this new layer of my identity has ignited an implacable desire for me to share more about my more personal experiences and tidbits as they relate to motherhood and family.
My hope is that you, my reader, can glean guidance and inspiration from my recipes and encouragement from my motherhood musings. I hope you encounter the same joy I find in transforming fresh ingredients into something that, in turn, can nourish the bodies and souls of those near and dear.
Apart from cooking, writing, being a wife to Marshall and a mama to our daughter Townes and fur baby Lincoln (our black lab), I nerd out with all things child development/psychology (I taught dual-language elementary for five years and have a degree in human learning and development), love hiking, yoga, and pretending I can play the ukulele.
Amanda