My name is Inas T. Thomas, and I’m so happy to welcome you to my kitchen.

I’m a 37-year-old home cook writing from just outside Austin, Texas, where the skies are big, the heat is real, and the kitchens (especially mine!) never stop humming.

My love for food started before I could even reach the stove, cooking under my grandmother’s watchful eye. I can still smell the pots of slow-simmered chili and see the tortillas puffing just right when you “talked to them gently.”