Meet Josie
Welcome to my kitchen! I’m Josie Brook, a 38-year-old recipe tinkerer broadcasting from my sunny kitchen in Asheville, North Carolina, where the Blue Ridge breeze drifts in through the screen door and the smell of rising sourdough seems to cling to everything I own. My first memories are of standing on a milk crate beside Grandma Evie, watching her turn pantry odds and ends into feasts that drew neighbors to the porch before she’d even rung the dinner bell. She believed a pinch of salt, a splash of laughter, and a story whispered over the pot could fix just about anything; I’ve carried that faith in my apron pocket ever since.
From Culinary School to the Bistro Line
Life’s road took me to culinary school in Providence, a whirlwind externship in New Orleans, and five loud, blisteringly fun years on the line at a Brooklyn bistro where I learned that oysters have dialects and that brûlée torches demand respect. Not every dish was a triumph (ask the regulars who watched me send a tray of molten chocolate cakes sliding straight off the pass), but each flop nudged me closer to the flavors I love most: bright Southern produce hugged by global twists picked up during backpacking detours through Oaxaca and Hokkaido.
Cooking at Home with My Daughter
These days, I’m home again, teaching my eight-year-old daughter, Sadie, the same lessons Grandma Evie taught me, though Sadie’s more interested in TikTok-worthy cheese pulls than in perfectly crimped pie shells. Together we film the messy bits and the magic alike, because I want her (and you) to see that greatness in the kitchen isn’t about spotless counters; it’s about tasting, adjusting, laughing when the caramel goes from amber to asphalt, and trying again with fresh sugar. My guiding philosophy is simple: if the food sparks conversation and a second helping, it’s worth making, and if it doesn’t, we’ll learn why and call pizza.
Pull Up a Stool, There’s Room for You
So whether you’re a seasoned pro plating micro-herbs with tweezers or a first-timer wondering which burner is low heat, pull up a stool and cook with us. I’ll share Grandma Evie’s handed-down secrets, Sadie’s trend-chasing experiments, and my own hard-won tricks for turning farmer’s-market hauls into recipes that feel both familiar and brand new. Let’s keep the door open, the music up, and the taste spoons handy; there’s always room at our table.
With love,
Josie