Julie May, PhD
I feel that I am the prototypical
modern American mom... because just like many of you, I wear many hats during the day as
I juggle my responsibilities. During "work" hours, I work as a
professor of Anatomy and Physiology at a private Christian University. When
I get home, the real work begins as the mother of four beautiful children (3
boys and 1 girl). I grew up in South Louisiana where the best food in the world
is routinely brought from the garden and the water, and put on the table.
Everyone in my family of origin is a wonderful cook, so I guess it is just
natural that I show my love to my family through food. I love cooking and
eating... and teaching my children the art and techniques of being in the
kitchen. My mother taught me that there is always SOME part of the cooking
process that even small children can help with...so my kids are indeed very
familiar with the kitchen, the kitchen tools, use of homegrown herbs, etc. I
hope you enjoy my blog.
If you are a frequent visitor to my
blog, you have seen my kids grow and mature... and now they are in most of the
posts as my kitchen helpers.
I may post
more step-by-step directions and photos than you would prefer; but my goal is
to make even the newest and timid cooks feel confident enough to try these recipes.
So in this regard, my posts become almost like a "paint by numbers"
project where you just follow the steps and the photos until you get to the
end!
Interests -I enjoy cooking, traveling, reading, wine and food pairings, scuba diving!
Meet the rest of the Cooking Staff at our house -
Lily
This is Lovely Lily. She's the youngest. She is featured in the
majority of the recipes from 2012. I can promise you that this little
girl knows how to crack eggs better than most adults!
Canon
This is Canon. He's next. Not a big fan of sharing the "chopping table" with Lily, so he mostly helps me out if Lily is napping.

Brady
This is Brady. He's the one that helped me win the StoveTop Hero Video Cooking Contest. We also wrote a children's fictional book together a few years ago.


That foxy man next to Brady my husband, Gregg. Yes. Life is good!
Nicholas
This is Nicholas. He's my Mr Dependable, oldest. Not the biggest fan of cooking in our house, but definitely knows how to when I need him!
Gavin
This is my stepson, Gavin. Sometimes he helps with cooking, and sometimes with photography. He has a great eye for photography and all things digital.

Jace
This is my stepson, Jace. He and Canon are pretty tight.. and usually caught up in playing video games together. But sometimes he's definitely in kitchen help mode!

Hi, do you have a cookbook also?
ReplyDeleteUpdate: I actually do have a cookbook coming out soon.... stay tuned folks! We are hoping for a launch in May 2014!!!! :)
DeleteHere's a link to the publisher's page to order a cookbook:
Deletehttp://www.indigoriverpublishing.com/portfolio_page/menu-musings/
Love your collection of recipes! I live in South Louisiana and this is a good collection of regional foods peppered with other fare...thanks! : )
ReplyDeleteThanks... I enjoy foods from all over, but I LOVE my Southern food! :)
DeleteHey Julie
ReplyDeleteI discovered your blog today from a google search. I think it's lovely how you get the whole family involved with the cooking enjoyment :) I look forward to following you.
Ibbs
x x
http://lalangostaymi.blogspot.com
Thanks for google searches!! Glad you stumbled upon me. Hope you will visit again, and please share my blog with your friends!
DeleteHi, I have a question concerning your Roasted Red Pepper Hummus recipe? Are you using jarred red "bell" peppers or pimentos? In the picture, the peppers looks like pimentos. My son loves hummus so I'm definitely going to try this recipes asap:)
ReplyDeleteHi there -
DeleteI used the jarred roasted red "bell" peppers. Sometimes they come in large pieces (like half the pepper), sometimes more like strips. I love them!! You can make your own, certainly, but this is the fasted way to get the job done.
Hope he enjoys!! Please subscribe to the blog so that you can be an ongoing part of the MenuMusings community. And please let me know how the recipe turns out for you. :)
Julie
I stumbled upon your blog today through pinterest. I made the tomato & basil chicken. Everyone loved it, even my 12 year old picky eater :) . My husband loved too, but I had to leave out the pasta due to his diet. You are my dinner saver from now on! Thank you for sharing your recipes.
ReplyDeleteThanks Zo-Zo.. hope to see you back here soon!
DeleteHey Julie! I made your Meatballs Stroganoff for a work party last Friday. Half of the office asked for the recipe, and I sent them a link to your blog. Most of them came up to me on Monday to tell me they made the stroganoff for their families over the weekend and they loved it. My boss even said she drank the sauce straight from the bowl.
ReplyDeleteHi Julie,
ReplyDeleteYour cheater cheater chicken and dumplings recipe was sooo easy and tasted a-mazing!!! My hubby had two helpings and took the rest to work to share with his co-worker. Needless to say, it will now be a rotating recipe in our household. Thanks again!
Morgan - that's awesome! Love those kind of stories!
DeleteI'm a newlywed, and love to cook. I have a husband that loves to eat and he is so glad I came across your blog! I can cook things I never would've even had the guts to try before. You make it so easy! Thank you so much for sharing and putting time into this blog, I make your recipes weekly now :)
ReplyDeleteBest wishes,
Nicole
Who needs pintrest, when you've got Julie's blog?! Just found it today, and love it!! Can't wait to cook the Chicken a la King tonight. Seems like all the recipes are easy to follow, and what a variety! I just read a comment earlier about you not having a cook book. With everything you've got here, it seems it should be a cinch!!
ReplyDeleteHi Julie. Like many others i found you through pintrest. I spent four hours looking through your recipe's. I like your blog so much I made a pintrest board of just Menu Musings & noticed many others had too. Beautiful photos. I'm a good cook but I get stuck in a rut. I'm happy to have new ideas. Thank you for all of the time you put into this. God bless you & yours!
ReplyDeleteGeorgia -
DeleteThank you so much for your kind message! We just moved, and I just got my internet service restored. What a great thing to kick off my new service!!!
Regarding the time I put into it.... oh boy!.. you know.... it started small, then it sort of took on a life of its own. It sort of snuck up on me, if you know what I mean. The more I learned, the better job I wanted to do, the more I put "into" the posts, the more time they took. It was like a big gigantic snowball. But you know what? It ultimately paid off, because a book publisher picked me up, and I have a cookbook coming out in a couple of months. We hope to launch a MenuMusings cookbook in May. Yay!!!!
So thank you very much. Readers like you are exactly the reason I do it. Folks like me, busy moms and dads who need new ideas of things to cook. Pure and simple.
So enjoy! - and please.... share the blog with EVERYone you know. I definitely need some new readers to buy some cookbooks!!!! :)
Best wishes,
Julie
Hello Julie, I just found your blog through Pinterest. It's wonderful! I made the Meatball Stroganoff last night and it was a huge hit. Thank you so much. I've been pouring over the rest of your site all morning. Love your writing!
ReplyDeleteLove the site and extensive recipes. Very happy to see your whole family involved in the kitchen, that is very inspiring!
ReplyDelete