Who is Karen?

Hi there! If you like food that's fun to make and even better eat, then you have come to the right place. Welcome to Karen's Place!  I've been cooking since I was four. I would go to the basement, pretend to make food to a fake audience on my wickedly awesome kitchen set, and sometimes try to talk like Julia Child.  I made a menu and would invite my friends and family to let me cook them a meal at my make-believe restaurant. I called it Karen's Place, and it was the best. The cooking set lives on today, and is a much loved toy for my nieces and nephews. You can find me now in my little condo in the sky, cooking something good for my boyfriend, my friends, my family. 

I take all of my own pictures and have my own photography business. If you'd like to reach out to me or see my latest updates follow this link: karenleannkirsch.com

Cooking brings me joy, and I hope it can give you something happy too. So when I'm not working all day with kids at an after school care program, I'm drafting new dinners in my head and making grocery lists. Recipes will be adapted from my favorite meals or completely made up! I'll always add my spin and will encourage you to add your own. This is the place to do meals right: straightforward and wholesome. 

The kitchen is a very special place to me. It is the epicenter of family and of life. It is where we nourish ourselves and where we share the history of our lives with our children. I think it is also the place we take most for granted. When life gets to be too much we go out for dinner, zap a frozen meal, or just eat junk. But the kitchen is where we sustain ourselves and tell the story of what we’d like our life to be. Growing up, our kitchen (and especially my grandma’s kitchen) was the place to hang out and to feel connected to one another. I’d like to carry that tradition on in my own adult life and share that with the folks around me. Maybe it’ll inspire you to let loose in your own kitchen. And I have very talented cooks in my life and I think they deserve some spot light. So here's me and here are my friends. Let's get cookin!