Have you wondered who that lovely lady is behind the camera in the photo above? The one responsible for giving us those wonderful Sugared Cranberry Pecan Shortbread cookies above, which are a delicious cross between Pecan Sandies and Walkers Shortbread? Well, wonder no more. Today, we’ll all get to meet Nicole, known to us here at Tasty Kitchen as Noshings.

Nicole describes herself as “thirty-er … something and mother to a wonderful daughter who also loves to cook.” That she and her daughter share a passion for cooking isn’t surprising, since Nicole derives inspiration from her own grandmother, who she says could make great food with almost nothing. In addition to sharing her recipes in her Tasty Kitchen Recipe Box and her food blog Noshings, she also owns an online fashion accessory shop on Etsy named Accessoire. Nicole tells us that it keeps her very busy, but that she loves it.

Her first love, though, is cooking, and fortunately for us, she loves taking photos of food, too. She admits that she’s a perfectionist when it comes to recipes, and insists on posting only those that she considers “totally yummy.”

One look at her Biegnets below, and obviously, that’s working to our advantage.

 
 
 
Her recipes clearly show her creative side, from using a mason jar to make frappuccino (a recipe surprisingly called … Mason Jar Frappuccino) to re-purposing a disposable cup to make delightful, calcium-rich Yogurt Popsicles that both kids and adults will enjoy.

 
 
 
Her favorite ingredients are sugar, butter, chocolate, and vanilla (she insists that it must be GOOD vanilla), and looking at what she can do with them, as seen in her Cheesecake Fudge below, I’d say I’d always want to make sure she has those in her cupboard.

 
 
 
As much as she loves those ingredients though, it’s sour cream that she absolutely must always have on hand. She says she uses it for anything from pound cake to mashed potatoes.

Although her recipe box does contain a lot of sweet recipes (double meaning intended), don’t miss her equally-delicious savory dishes, like her Chicken Mexicali below. Doesn’t that just look absolutely mouth-watering?

 
 
Okay, enough of making each other hungry. At least, for a few minutes. Let’s ask Nicole some questions, and maybe even get a culinary confession out of her.

 
Q: What’s your go-to dish or meal?
A: Green chile chicken enchiladas, hands down, no contest.

 
Q: What is your favorite kitchen tool?
A: My pressure cooker. Pinto beans in 20 minutes, are you KIDDING ME??

 
Q: What gives you the most trouble in the kitchen?
A: Getting fondant smooth on a cake. I tend to get those aggravating air pockets underneath! ARRRGGGGGGH! Don’t you hate it when your cake looks like it has the mumps? So, I’ve been making bakery style cakes. No one cares if your whipped cream icing is a little messy.

 
Q: Most memorable kitchen flop ever?
A: Ok, so confession time? I removed a glass casserole dish from a hot oven that I had melted butter in for a “Dump Cake” and … um … dumped the can of pineapple in and it just exploded. Yeah, that was one of my crowning moments.

 
Q: Give us one of your favorite kitchen tips that you wish you’d always known.
A: In order to cut fudgy brownies with almost no hassle whatsoever, use a plastic knife. It glides right through the brownies without ripping them to pieces, even when they’re still hot!

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Thank you for answering our questions, Nicole! I think there might have been two confessions in there, but don’t worry. No one’s counting.

To see all of Nicole’s recipes here at Tasty Kitchen, check out her Recipe Box and prepare yourself for all the yumminess in there. You can also visit her food blog Noshings, and her Etsy store Accessoire, where she has, among other things, handmade soaps that look almost good enough to eat.

 
It always comes back to food, doesn’t it?

 
Meet Deborah Mele, also known here as italianfoodforever. And those photos above are her recipes here at Tasty Kitchen. Yes, every single one, as of this writing.

With entries for drinks, salads, canapes, soups, main courses, desserts, and of course, pasta, you can theoretically print out her entire Tasty Kitchen recipe box and have an Italian cookbook in your hands.

Deborah also has her site, Italian Food Forever, where she shares cooking tips, cookbook reviews, travel journals, and of course, more recipes. She says that although she may not be Italian by birth, she is undeniably Italian by heart. While she does occasionally branch out, almost everything she prepares at home is either Italian or inspired by Italian ingredients, like her Panettone French Toast with Caramelized Apples below.

 
 
 
It was in Italy that Deborah says she “learned to prepare everything from breads to pastas, and anything in between.” Or, as we say here, from soups to nuts. Which, incidentally, she’s managed to combine in one bowl, in her Creamy Porcini Chestnut Soup pictured below.

 
 
 
While Deborah believes in making everything from scratch in her own kitchen, she also understands that this may not always be possible for those who have limited time in their busy days. Mindful of that, she offers ideas for cutting steps whenever possible. But sometimes, shortcuts are unnecessary, and her Quick and Easy Zesty Sausage Pasta below is a 30-minute meal that tastes like it was simmering for hours.

 
 
 
Deborah maintains that the essence of Italian cooking is simplicity, using the freshest seasonal ingredients and basic cooking techniques to bring out the natural flavor of the food. And she shares many such simple, basic and incredibly heart-warming recipes, like the Warm Goat Cheese In Tomato Sauce pictured below. It really doesn’t get any simpler than that.

 
 
 
We’re truly happy to have Deborah here. From demystifying panna cotta to gorgeous dishes like those Herbed Goat Cheese Mini Flans that I can’t stop thinking about, Deborah has so much to offer us, and she does so in such a generous way.

 
 
So let’s jump right into the part where we ask her questions, and get to know the lovely Deborah Mele a little better!

 
 
Q: What do you enjoy most about cooking?
A: I love cooking with ingredients that inspire me and that are usually fresh and locally grown. When we are spending our yearly 6 months in Umbria overseeing our farmhouse rental, I visit the outdoor markets almost every day and look for my inspiration for what I will cook that day from the seasonal local ingredients I find there.

 
Q: Any favorite chefs or food celebrities? Who inspires you?
A: The person who inspired my love of cooking the most would have to be my Italian mother-in-law, who never measures anything and who taught me that being a great cook was as much from the heart as it was from the head. Of course, if one loves Italian cuisine, it is impossible not to be inspired by such celebrities as Marcella Hazan, Mario Batali, or Lidia Bastianich.

 
Q: What is your go-to dish or meal?
A: Pasta, of course! I LOVE pasta because I can create an amazing sauce in the time it takes to cook the pasta and have a meal on the table in less than 30 minutes.

 
Q: What if you had to eat something right now and had only 3 minutes to get it ready? What would it be?
A: It’d be a peanut butter and banana sandwich (a childhood favorite I never outgrew).

 
Q: Give us one of your favorite kitchen tips that you wish you’d always known.
A: That when making bread, weighing your ingredients is much more accurate than measuring them.

 
Q: What gives you the most trouble in the kitchen?
A: I am embarrassed to admit that I do not like—and am even nervous about—deep frying. I always worry I will end up with my entire kitchen on fire!

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Thank you for answering our questions, Deborah! And since cooking truly is a matter of the heart, thank you for sharing yours with everyone.

For more of Deborah, her cooking, travels, and her great love for the Italian kitchen, head to her site, Italian Food Forever. Her passion for food is such a joy to experience.

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