About

ABOUT
contact me:  jenessasdinners@gmail.com
  

"Jenessa's Dinners" started when one of my dearest friends, Bree, asked me to share my dinner habits in the months prior to her summer wedding.  At about the same time, my boyfriend, Garrett, bought a nice camera.  Sharing became blogging as I started to document what I cooked every night at home. In the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago is my kitchen, but between teaching history in the suburbs and working on my masters in history on the far north side, I don't see the apartment as much as this blog might suggest.  The recipes you'll find here are whipped up using the ingredients I would purchase normally, just once a week at a very average grocery store.  I don't use recipes, but rely on taste combinations and spice mixtures that make my meals efficient and effortless.  My philosophy is that if you only shop in the produce section and develop a global palate, your kitchen will put out flavorful, healthy meals. I'm inspired by the foods I've been lucky to taste in far-flung travels around the world.  Abroad I like to eat where the food is closest to the home kitchen (or the street vendor) as possible, since I truly believe any country should be judged by how its poorest live and eat.  It is a people's hospitality with food from the humble home that always leaves me with faith in humanity, longing for the airport and the adventure of travel.  In that spirit I continue this blog - to share my food and home in return.