merrifood

Hi!  I’m Merri, an American living and working in Sydney.  I have been baking and cooking for most of my life, and I am obsessed with food.  When I am not eating, I am either looking up restaurants to eat at, examining degustation menus at restaurants, or looking at food blogs to find new recipes to cook myself.

Despite my food obsession, I’ve resisted the food blog craze for several years now – after all, everyone and their mother has one.  But I would like to submit the proposition that my food blog could potentially be different from other ones in a few key ways.

1. My recipes are either completely clean vegetarian eating or extremely indulgent baked goods.  After all, life is about moderation, so this is how I personally find middle ground.

2. I take unabashed joy in taking photos of food at every new restaurant I go to and discussing it, and it’s always fun to see the world through someone else’s food experiences.

3. My recipes – particularly the baked goods ones – are 100% friend tested and approved.  And my audience consists of a very large number of worldly young professionals (and even the occasional professional chef) with discerning palates, who have sometimes been known to queue up at my desk for a taste.  In fact, baking is how I make friends.  I of course then keep them with my winning personality – and a continual supply of treats.

4. I bake to suit all feelings (eg, “I’m so sorry your boyfriend just dumped you” cookies, “I’m going to seduce you” flourless chocolate cake, etc), so whatever your mood, there’s something on here for you.

My not so secret desire is to start a chain of bakeries that eventually, along with their offshoot merrifood establishments such as chocolate bars, frozen yogurt shops, and wine bars, monopolizes the world food scene.  Until I can make that happen, I content myself with actually making money at my day job, using my fellow consultants as my taste testers,  testing out new recipes every chance I get, and getting inspired by food all over the world.  I have no professional experience and certainly no great photography skills – just an intense love for food, how it brings people from all types of cultures and backgrounds together, and my desire to share that with you.

Hope you enjoy!  And feel free to contact me at meredith.estren@gmail.com.