Why I started The Collegetown Kitchen

I started a new website!

From the first day of freshman year, I looked forward to getting an apartment of my own and having a kitchen. For a whole year, I knew my greatest form of self expression would have to be put on hold. It's not like I suffered, but I definitely missed home-cooked food. It was a great first year, but I'm ready to get into the good stuff...

When imagining a first apartment, I know that what would excite me most was possibly what other students would most dread: cooking for one's self. Thinking of all I would need to create a functional kitchen, for me, sounds like a fun time. But remembering my older brother, whose competence lies more in the calculus realm and less in the kitchen, I realized that the lack of well-designed resources for college students in their first apartments was a major source of consternation.

Looking at all the resources out there for young people in the kitchen, it seemed like all of them were written by much older people who had lost touch with students in 2019. I was hard-pressed to find quality cookbooks or sites specifically designed for college students. Even if there were interesting recipes, seldom could I find a good guide to what I should keep in my pantry or what pots and pans I really can't do without.

The Collegetown Kitchen was born out of a simple idea: "I have to cook for myself, so I might as well share what I'm making". I already had experience in high school after working at a local bakery and creating the After School Bakery so I was no stranger to writing recipes — it just seemed like the logical step I should take in college!

The Collegetown Kitchen is a living diary of what our writers and experts are cooking, but it is also a point of reference for cooks of all calibers. There are basic recipes every student should know, like how to roast vegetables, fry eggs,and makechocolate chip cookies without a mixer. But there is also chicken confitand risotto, which aren't as difficult as they sound. In addition, there are guides to creating a functional pantry with shopping lists tailored to the kind of cook you are. There's an equipment guide that tells you exactly what you need in your kitchen, and there are different options for that too. There's guidance on food safety and also how to take care of a cast iron skillet, the versatile friend of a nifty cook.

Because I want Collegetown Kitchen to be as useful as possible, in a departure from my approach at After School Bakery, where I created every aspect of every piece of content, Collegetown Kitchen features content from contributors with different areas of expertise, such as cooking on a budget, nutritional science, and cooking for specific dietary needs. This network of contribution allows for a greater breadth and reach.

Collegetown Kitchen is designed to be diverse and inclusive, with options to make most recipes that are not already dairy free, vegetarian, vegan, or gluten free. The recipes are written to teach techniques; not just how to cook one thing. I hope you enjoy cooking along with me!

Aproveche, buon appetito and bon appétit!