About Me

Hello and welcome to my little corner of the interwebs! Don’t worry… this is a cozy place filled with love, food, wine, and quality of life that everyone should have (within a reasonable budget)!

My name is Chrissy! As you can see… I love food. I love cooking food. I love eating food. I love experiencing new flavors. I love enjoying food with friends and family even more! Whether it’s cooked at home or dining out.

There’s a quality of life in food that is a unique experience. There’s a moment when you take that first bite, pause life, and go “wow!” before life sweeps you up again. You know that moment? When it’s you and that one bite of food that makes you forget that the world is there and even some of your worries take a break. I love that moment. If I find that in a dish then my life is made a little better.

Then there are times when life is too hectic to cook a masterpiece that even Gordon Ramsay would praise. Sometimes it’s a PB&J. Sometimes it’s a can of soup. Sometimes you just drag out that ice covered pint of ice from the back of the freezer and grab a spoon. We’ve all been there. And that’s after college. Yep… being in my 30’s you’d’ve thunk I graduated to adulthood. Well, I have(ish)… and there are there are times that I don’t have the energy and motivation to bother with assembling some semblance of a meal.

BUT! That’s part of why I started this blog. There will be simple meals. There will be more semi-complex meals. There will be meal suggestions when you take the leftovers and create something new(ish), but you feel accomplished because you didn’t just crush up a bag of ramen and eat it dry. I see you cringe and nod in remembrance.

So about me… I am a semi-native of Santa Barbara, California. I grew up an only child with an amazing single mom and have lived an interesting but fun life! After college I moved back to Santa Barbara and started my life here as a young adult. My mother taught me how to cook, but Food Network taught me to get creative and to make it pretty. After striking out on my own I lived with a couple who were vegetarians. I learned so much about different flavor combinations, textures, and expanded my palate to new and exotic vegetables. Like swiss chard and kale. Kale really freaked me out until I learned that it’s a pretty color and doesn’t taste like green when you juice it with 8 pounds of pineapple. Then you can’t even taste it!

When I moved into my own apartment I starting my journey of culinary skills and had wonderful friends who were starving enough to be my test subjects. They are still my friends after all that. WHEW!!!

Currently, I live in Santa Barbara with my husband, Matthew, and we are but humble servants to 2 kitties, Lyra and Emmy. My husband is really really really smart. He’s an adjunct Philosophy Professor and is the Training Manager at the software company that he and I work together at. Somehow I lucked out since he also enjoys cooking, a good bottle of wine and a good cup of java. The main difference between the two of us?? Well… He sees food as a something nice that you also need to like not die and stuff. The man also doesn’t feel the hangry! SAY WHAT??? Whereas, I see food as an experience and something to look forward to as a quality of life. Also, I am all about the hangry. I won’t go into detail about the time he withheld potato chips whilst I was driving and hangry. Needless to say… he’s still breathing…

Lyra – My Supreme Editor Overlord
Emmy – Chief of Quality Assessment and Sniffery

My husband and I love to cook both healthy and comfort meals. And a nice wine pairing to go with! You’ll definitely see a good mixture of both here, or I’ll just toss out a new Sangria recipe I created. Overall, our personal goal was to eventually be able to sustain a budget that allowed us to start buying from and support local farms, bakeries, butchers, fishmongers, and especially wineries, while not going bankrupt.

With the help and support of my husband, loved ones and 2 judgy kitties, that time has come! I’m so excited to be able to give back to, and share with, this beautiful community.

Welcome to Cook Now Wine Later!
Cheers!