About ReelScrumptious

My name is Valerie Reel. I grew up cooking with my Mom, we did a lot of gardening, canning and raised our own animals for food. I cooked with my Mom in the kitchen and learned basic skills from her. My mother is an excellent cook in her own right, but as I grew up and got out of the house I decided I wanted to venture more into exploring the cooking world and how to make things, mostly from scratch. Most of my friends know me as cooking from scratch. I try to share my cooking with all of my friends and show tips for certain recipes as well as cooking with some of them and showing how I randomly come up with a recipe. For some reason I am very good at doing that, I can read a recipe and tell you exactly what I don't like and how I would alter into a different recipe. I learned from watching cooking shows as well, especially Paula Deen. I take those recipes and make them my own. I can not follow a recipe well to save my skin, writing these recipes has been difficult for me because I am an "eye baller", even when baking I can pour flour into the bowl and know how much I put in there. This is why sometimes it may take me a little bit to have exact measurements on recipes, but I am doing it to help people to cook from scratch. Now not everything is from scratch, because I know that some are fearful of doing that, but I also want people to learn to cook with your taste buds. That's why I will have in my recipes "to taste" or tell you to taste it and go with it. And if you don't like an ingredient in my recipe, CHANGE IT! It won't hurt my feelings!
Food is a passion for me, I love it, and for my family I have to cook. I take things that I always have in my kitchen and make the best out of it, when there is extra in the food fund I will splurge and try a new recipe or buy an ingredient that I can use for several recipes.
I use my kids, husband and friends as testers. Coming up with new recipes and getting feedback is great, even if its to tell me that I added to much of something or too little of another or they prefer not to have a certain ingredient and try to make a recipe that will work for everyone.
Now the name and idea of getting my recipes out to the public was a push from some family members and great friends. My friends Marie, Kellie, Tiffany, Heidi, Shawn, Corey and Brian where huge pushers with my food (if you are a friend reading and I didn't say your name it just didn't pop up at the time I was writing, a lot to think, but know that I meant you too :)). I used to cook for everyone on holidays when we were in KS. The more the merrier and everyone helped out.
The name really came out when Tiffany and I were cooking with my daughter, who was then 19 months, and Tiffany told me "Girl you need to make a cookbook" I told her I didn't know where to start, and didn't know what name I would use but I would want wordplay off of "Reel". We spent hours on the computer and with a pen and paper coming up with names and googling to see if someone was already using a name we came up with. And finally the word scrumptious came out, I honestly can not tell you who said it, Tiffany or me, it was probably her, and then Reel was said and the name was born. Tiffany and my husband were the main collaborators in the subtitle.
I have been struggling since to write the cookbook, gathering my recipes writing down slowly what I put in it and measuring.
Then Heidi was in on the push too once I met her and fed her my food, she is also my little editing spy on here for me ;). My other friends were in on it too especially my husband. Since I have been asked frequently when is the cookbook coming and when can it be bought?! My family really started the big push when word of writing a cookbook came about, they had always told me how delicious my cooking was and asking me how to do this and that. Then I started getting asked by family members of friends and friends of friends on tips how to do things and how I make the food I post on my FB.
I am still writing my cookbook, just having my computer get fixed I can really push harder. Then my neighbor had surgery and I was bringing her and her daughter food to help out when they gave me a great opportunity to test some recipes and have my bio in a magazine, for that I am extremely grateful and hope the best and more comes out of it. But, that offer was my big push to at least get some of my recipes out to where more people could view and comment and ask questions before my cookbook is done, and that is how this blog came about.
I hope that everyone who reads my blog tries the recipes enjoys them and comes back for more and spreads the word if they enjoy it.
So, become a Foodie with me and make some delicious meals!!

Stuffed and Happy Foodie,

Valerie Reel