Ohhh HEY you!  I’m Kate, and I’m so happy you stopped by! I started And They Cooked Happily Ever After when my husband Dave and I got married, because all of a sudden I was a wife, and realized that I had to cook, like on a regular basis. So it kept me domestically honest and dedicated to spending some time in the kitchen. 

The very first recipe on this blog was for Pineapple Mojitos. Let’s just say we had a LOT more time to experiment with fun cocktails back in those days.  We started out with the tiniest (but also biggest) and most BIZAARLY laid out kitchen that ever was constructed, but somehow we made it work. 

Back then (and of course now!) we always loved having friends over, and it was always an excuse for me to try to “test out something for the blog” – like this Sweet Tea Sangria when our friend Brett moved to Virginia and we had a BBQ themed send-off for him. Or when my college gal pal Liz moved to Texas with her hubby, this recipe for Bruce’s Pulled Chicken Sliders and Pecan Squares were just a couple of things on the menu.

Then we did the “buy a house and move out to the suburbs” thing – upgraded our kitchen space a smidge – which allowed us a little more elbow room for recipe testing. Dave’s Lobster Rolls are a special occasion specialty – naturally with the lobster pot we got from our wedding registry! 

We even worked in a few “out of the kitchen” posts, chronicling our early journeys in the um, “DIY home improvement department – let’s just say that after painting our kitchen cabinets (all 48508654 of them), painting some stripes on our hallway walls, and then of course, tearing out the walls in our living room in the middle of a blizzard, we took a break from home improvements for a while!

Then Murphy was born in 2016, and life just took on a whole new spin – a busy but incredibly fun, sometimes exhausting, but always joyful one. All of a sudden the “quick, easy and on the table FAST” recipes started making much more frequent appearances. One Pot Lemony Shrimp Orzo with Broccoli and Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas are frequent guest stars, especially during those crazy weeknights! But rest assured, I do find the time every now and again to really indulge (mostly in the sweets department). This Chocolate Covered Salted Caramel Whoopie Pie Cake is the stuff of “lazy day of baking” dreams. And any time I can get my hands on something in the pumpkin chocolate chip family, I take the opportunity (primarily why Fall is my most favorite season of all!) Examples of this obsession include this Giant Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Chipwich, Chocolate Stuffed Pumpkin French Toast, and let us not forget that Deep Dish Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie.

So as you can see, life has changed a lot since this blog was born – and the one thing that has followed us along the way is FOOD (and drinks, obvi).  It’s the one thing in life that we need to keep us happy – to keep us full – and to keep us thriving. Food brings people together – whether it’s for a Holiday gathering, mourning the loss of a loved one or just for a regular old Sunday dinner. Food is like the glue of life – but like, the glue that you can actually eat! And whether you’re married with a family or living your best life, making it happen with you, yourself and you – we ALL have to eat food! Like every day! Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and hopefully some snacks. Lots of snacks. Multiply that times 365 days a year and there is a whole lot of eating to be done guys.

On this blog, you’ll find it all – fun, delicious recipes that are sometimes a little healthy, sometimes a little naughty, but most times a lotta’ easy – because there are too many good Netflix shows and wine to be drunk to be slavin’ away in the kitchen all day and night – ammaright? 

Thanks for paying a visit and I hope you enjoy what And They Cooked Happily Ever After has to offer!