* Not really a ranch.Hello out there! My name is Karen and I am a Louisiana native who has lived in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains in East Tennessee for about 10 years. I love to cook and talk about food, and I want to share my passion with friends and family through this blog.
I started cooking for myself while I was in college and trying to lose weight. One of my best friends was raving about the Atkins diet (I know, I know, but it was circa 1999 and I was 21) and I wanted to try it for myself. Unfortunately, despite having many great cooks in my family, I hadn't learned much beyond scrambling eggs at home. I had recently quit a job at a gourmet shop where I had learned some basic skills. I picked up how to pan-sear a chicken breast and saute vegetables (which became the basis of my diet), but more importantly, I was exposed to foods I had never seen or tried before and started feeling more comfortable with the language of cooking.
As for the name of this blog, my husband, Darren, and I have joked about creating the "Dunlap Ranch" for a long time. A piece of property and some hard work, and we could live "off the grid" with a pack of hounds and a brood of kids, complete with a guesthouse for visiting in-laws and friends. For now, we stoke that dream with a 2-bedroom teensy rental in Mamawville with our two dogs, Lily and Mal, and a bit of a garden. So, for now, Dunlap Ranch is a bit of a misnomer, but it keeps the dream alive. :)
I aim to cover some broad topics with this blog including cooking, organization, gardening, books, music and travel --- a bit of all my favorite things.
The photo above was taken at Sequoyah Birthplace Museum in Vonore, Tenn., in Oct. 2011. I'm wearing my beloved $10 Ann Taylor Loft aviators that are now bent out of shape beyond repair. That shirt is also a favorite --- Converse for Target --- and it has a huge hole in one elbow. These are the kinds of non sequiturs you can expect from this blog.
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