Carrie Barber
Carrie Barber, a Mom and Wife, Customer Relations Manager, aspiring Chef, and a new blogger. A Superman occupation, during the day I am the Customer Relations Manager of a well-known Automotive Group. Once off I take on the role of the Mom/Wife and creating plates of wondrous food concoctions. I was born in 1980, as Carrie Ghamrawi to both Ahmed and Liz Ghamrawi in California. They created a multi-cultural household for my sisters and me, melding the Lebanese/Egyptian roots to my Mothers Canadian/Irish roots. I was not only taught how to cook, though also how to belly dance and all that came with absorbing my parents. I quickly jumped into the cultures that my parents had acculturated for our family, and loved every moment. Watching my father cook and observing the array of herbs and spices being used has always been a favorite memory. The smells coming from the house was one of warmth and could fill up your tummy with just one inhale.
Being the middle child of my family, I learned at a young age that if I wanted to be heard; that I had to speak up. So I got loud, and what came from that was the ability to talk; and talk well. We moved up to Oregon when I was a few months old, where I went through all the normal years of schooling during the day and in the evening sitting at the kitchen table watching my parents cook. Cooking especially with my father, gave me that great bonding time. We saw eye to eye when it came to cooking and football. I grew up sitting with my dad as he watched the best of all time quarterbacks; Joe Montana of the San Francisco 49ers. As I grew, my cooking ability grew with me and my contributions with cooking with my dad increased and surpassed both of our hopes.
After a couple year of dabbling with college, I got married. We had two great children, Tyler and Hailey; who stole my heart from the very moment I knew. The marriage parted ways, and I had the time to focus strictly on myself and my children. Years later I met the love of my life, and married James after a couple years of dating. We grew together and continue to learn as parents; as we continue the art of being best friends, and of course Husband and Wife. James has also taken on the task of being my sous-chef, and I must admit that he has bloomed with his cooking ability. James is the best sous-chef that anyone could ask for, and is constantly inspiring me to try new things. All in all when I really picked up cooking, my eye’s started to open to a whole new world. Creating the menu for the work weeks has turned into a mission of creativity, and a new flare for all the different tastes. Being this way has caused an immaculate palate for my whole family. They are indeed the best kind of company to enjoy a meal with, and saying thank you for all the support and being my taste testers, will never meet the warmth that they have made my heart, by just being them.
Megan Nadan
I am always looking for the next time that I can travel and what new place I get to explore whether it be a small town a few hours away or across the ocean. It may come as no surprise based on all our cooking posts that I was always excited to try some new food or dish! Once I came back home I would think of that dish and this would inspire me to try and learn to remake it or explore a new style of cooking that I was introduced to.
I have been lucky that food and travel have been a constant in my life, thanks to my parents. My father had a passion for cooking, creating, and trying new recipes and he passed this on to me and my brother. Traditions around food helped us mark the year; from traditional Polish food on Christmas Eve to the Drygas family potato salad in the summer and the Habash family egg salad sandwich on the first-day car trips.
My mother shared her creativity with me through so many projects in CampFire to creating decorations for PTA Teacher appreciation week. These projects gave me the confidence to explore all types of DIY projects as I decorated apartments and now as we are improving our house.
I would not be blogging and creating videos if it was not for my amazing husband Jay nudging me to get started. We live in Federal Way, Washington with two cats Olivia, Abby, and our active Newfoundland dog Maya. When I am not cooking or traveling, I work as a Senior Project Manager for a children’s nonprofit in Seattle.
