Wikipedia(R) describes a “Foodie” as ” a person who has an ardent or refined interest in food and alcoholic beverages,” – someone who, “seeks out new food experiences as a hobby rather than simply eating out of convenience or hunger.” Despite the flippant term, it’s a fairly apt description of the two of us, although we tend to “seek out new food experiences” in our own kitchen, rather than venturing forth into the restaurants and bars of the world in search of unique fare.

The challenge was to take our passion for food and cooking and turn it into the ability to prepare fast, tasty, sometimes even gourmet meals at home. We discovered that, although we had an understanding of foods, their flavors and textures and the use of spices, etc., we lacked some of the basic skills to pull it all together quickly. As we struggled through the ups and downs, we started to talk about making a blog – surely there must be others who might benefit from our mistakes and discoveries?

This is how The DIY Bistro was born. We didn’t call it that at first, of course – just joked that home was “our favorite little restaurant.” It was several months before our much bantered blog became a reality, and we plead patience as we stretch our wings and try to figure out all that there is to do here.

Living in Fairbanks, Alaska, an isolated community of approximately 80,000 souls, added a few more obstacles. Almost everything has to be brought in from a great distance so food here is a good bit more expensive than what I was used to in the lower 48 (Alaskans’ pet name for the rest of the country.) Our grocery bill (like our heating fuel bill) has an even bigger impact on our monthly budget than what you might expect, so we watch the sale ads, check the managers’ specials at the supermarket and dig through our freezer for inspiration. We’ll share tips and tricks for saving time and money in the kitchen, and even ideas for reimagining leftovers. We hope you’ll find, as we have, that you can eat better meals at home than you can in most restaurants – at a fraction of the cost!

Whatever your reason for wanting to turn your home into your favorite bistro, we’re glad you came.