A new name, a new design, and exciting new possibilities

I’m Rachel Chartoff, the creator of Birdseed Kitchen.

Educating people about food and cooking is part of everything I’ve loved about blogging, and I want to go even further in this area. I’ve realized the potential of this site to reach people who want to learn how to cook, or who want to find the best recipes for a particular ingredient.

Creating a truly great dish with a fresh ingredient is an achievement that combines knowledge, technique, and practice. It requires getting to know your product and how to select it, knowing the optimal ways to prepare it, and gaining experience using recipes that help you practice valuable techniques. My goal on this site is to communicate not only what to do in the steps of a recipe, but why.

What you will find on this site

How Do You Food aspires to be not only a blog with great recipes, but also an educational website and culinary magazine. I’m open to a lot of possibilities for what the site can become.

Right now, I’m working on making How Do You Food a destination for anyone who wants to…

• get started with the right kitchen equipment
• stock a pantry
• learn more about seasonal produce
• find a great way to cook a vegetable (even one that you think you don’t like!)
• master a technique
• explore stories about people connected with food

What’s the story behind the name?

How Do You Food can be thought of as two questions in one. The first question emphasizes the HOW – as in “how do you roast garlic?” The second question emphasizes the YOU – as in “how do YOU top your pancakes?”

Both questions are important to me. I am in love with the how in the kitchen – how to combine flavors, how to make the best [insert anything edible here]. I’m also into the you of food – the individuals who cook, and who add their cultures and personalities to their creations. I don’t subscribe to the idea that there’s a right or wrong way to do anything in the kitchen, as long as you don’t hurt yourself! We’ll be creating food for everyone, and celebrating everyone who makes food.

But seriously, how did you come up with this name?

I had been thinking of rebranding the site for some time. One day, while on my way back from a meeting across town, I ordered lunch from a restaurant whose name shall remain anonymous. Included with the lunch was the worst and best biscuit I have ever eaten. Soaked with butter an approximation of butter to the point of nearly dripping, yet somehow still too dry, and definitely waaaay too salty, this biscuit inspired a series of thoughts that went something like this:

1. How is it possible to screw up a biscuit?
2. Yup. It happened.
3. Come on, “biscuit” is half of your restaurant’s name!
4. Hey [restaurant name], do you even biscuit?
5. Hmm, how do you biscuit?

At that point, I went off on a mental tangent thinking about all the best-in-class biscuits I’ve eaten (and made myself, thank you very much.) That’s when the idea of “how do you [whatever food]” first occurred.

“How Do You Food” also sounds like a friendly greeting for website visitors, so I was sold right away.

How will I find your recipes?

I’ll be updating the website name and address, but you will be redirected from any bookmarked recipes on Birdseed Kitchen to the same recipe on How Do You Food.

If you would like to receive new recipes in your inbox, you can subscribe to my email list.

Want to connect more often, share the recipes you’ve made, and discover even more about food? Follow me on social media.

I am grateful to you, my visitor to this site. I hope you come back often and see what we have to offer. I am grateful for your visits and your support, and I hope you find information here that inspires you in your own kitchen.

Let’s cook something great… together!

-Rachel