About Me

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My name is Carrie.  I love to cook, I love to bake, and I love to eat.  Hottie-Biscotti chronicles my experiences with cooking, baking and eating.  I have a special place in my heart for wine and cheese.  I also appreciate a good greasy burger and fries.

I live in Sugar Land, Texas.  I am the wife to a wonderful man and stay-at-home mom to three sweet young kids and our eldest child, an insane dog.

As a stay-at-home mom I have to cook and bake on a different time table than a working professional, young single, young married, mature adult or those in their golden years.  I try to provide time saving tips for those of you who want to cook at home but need or want to do it quickly.  I believe that there are occasions to spend hours in the kitchen cooking a meal, but that time is not every evening!

I enjoy trying new things in the kitchen, but also have a lot of simple stand-by recipes that make it into our weekly dinner rotation quite often.  Everybody needs easy and familiar meals, I don’t care who you are.  Some of the things I make are somewhat complicated, and others would qualify as 30 minute meals.  Some even contain “cream of something” soups.  The horror! The recipes you see on Hottie-Biscotti are mostly ones I’ve come across on other blogs, in cookbooks or magazines, sometimes with changes, sometimes without.  Every now and then I manage to come up with something original.  I link back to the original source whenever possible.  Giving credit is important in the food blogging world.  If you have a food blog, please show other bloggers that courtesy.

Photographs, unless noted, are my own amateur photographer works.  I aim to become a better food photographer…someday, but it’s a process!  Bear with me.  So you will see photos that have obviously taken time and were staged right there next to a good old fashioned iPhone photo.

And on a personal note:

As many young women have at some point in their lives, I struggled with an eating disorder in my early 20’s.  Through that struggle I learned a lot about food, how I treated it and how I often mistreated it.  Many times it was the enemy yet at the same time something I used to find temporary comfort.  It took me a while, but I finally came to the realization (through therapy, prayer and supportive family) that food wasn’t the enemy and it’s not what brings true comfort either.  Fat and carbs aren’t evil.  They’re actually good things!  All in moderation of course.  It’s ok to treat yourself to rich and delicious food, but you have to do it wisely and balance it all with good and nutritious food and exercise.  Even though I never really discuss my issues with food in my posts, this blog has allowed me to chronicle my personal journey and my relationship with food and arrive where I am today, in a much better and balanced place.  I can now view it as something to really enjoy, not something to be afraid of and not something to derive all my comfort from.  Of course I still struggle, but not in the same way and not to the same extreme.  If you’re struggling with an eating disorder or ever have, know that you are not alone and seeking out help is a brave and important step.

 

7 Comments

  1. Kamila
    April 25, 2015 @ 1:07 pm

    Dear Carrie,
    Thank you for sharing all these amazing and truly delicious recipes! We’d be happy to build a partnership with such a dedicated food blogger and get you promoted at our official FB with over 22K followers. Please visit our website to learn more about the opportunities you may get with us: http://talktochef.com/howitworks/affiliates. Feel free to contact me at kamila@talktochef.com for any additional information.
    Thank you!
    Kamila

  2. Amanda Caylor
    July 17, 2015 @ 3:39 pm

    Hi Carrie

    I would love to connect with you via email to share more about Zomato in Houston. Please feel free to email me at Amanda.Caylor@zomato.com and I can send more information.

    Look forward to hearing from you soon!

    Warm Regards,
    Amanda

  3. Morgan Jankovic
    August 10, 2015 @ 3:48 pm

    Hey Carrie!
    I want to invite you to a foodie event that I’m helping put on. Can you please send me your email?

    Thanks!
    Morgan

  4. Carrie Zinnecker
    August 10, 2015 @ 4:06 pm

    Hey, Morgan! I just sent you an email 🙂

  5. Kelly Cornelison
    February 15, 2016 @ 12:03 pm

    Hi Carrie! Just wanted to say that it was so nice bumping into you last week and your blog is beautiful! I’ve just liked you on Facebook, so I can keep up with new recipes. I’m definitely making that brussels sprouts salad this week. Hope to connect again soon… via social media or otherwise!

  6. Carrie Zinnecker
    February 17, 2016 @ 6:26 pm

    Thanks, Kelly! So good to run in to you after all these years. Sometimes I am amazed at what a small world it is! Hopefully we’ll see you at the Farmer’s Market soon.

  7. Cara Bowling
    September 24, 2016 @ 10:20 pm

    Carrie,
    So happy to stumble across your blog tonight; it’s beautiful. And i’m happy to see you’re still making cakes!

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