Hey, y’all! I’m Amy, and welcome to my blog!
I’m a sixth year Political Psychology PhD Candidate in the Department of Political Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Spending the past four (ish) years in the Southern Part of Heaven has been a challenging, enriching, and delicious experience. I devote the better part of most days to political science, as I labor over my dissertation and teach undergraduates about American politics. The stress of graduate school is indeed a force to be reckoned with, but I have managed to stay relatively sane by developing a love of cooking and “procrastibaking.” Whether I decompress from a long day on campus by chopping up seasonal vegetables to roast, or I attempt to liven up my lectures by baking bipartisan cookies for my students, time in my Carrboro kitchen is always a highlight of my evenings.
My students originally inspired me to create a foodstagram to post pictures of my creations, and I obliged, not realizing how amazing this creative outlet would be during the dissertation phase of the PhD program. In addition to photos of my homemade goodies, I also posted pictures from trips to local restaurants and breweries to show the Triangle community that even grad students enjoy the amazing local food and beer scene. Not even after a year of operating the @gradschoolfoodie Instagram, I applied for a position to contribute to the Triangle Food Adventures food blog one afternoon at Starbucks (instead of writing my dissertation…yes, I’m the worst). The blog contacted me this past March of 2017 with news that I was accepted into the new group of writers, many of whom have become great new friends this past year. Writing restaurant reviews has been an incredible hobby, and this position has allowed me to attend amazing events,meet people in the community, and bond over our love of food.
Inspired by fellow foodie friends, I decided to create this blog to post recipes I have shared on my Instagram page. Please follow along to keep up with my ultimate life-goal of becoming the southern equivalent of one of my favorite celebrities, Ina Garten aka Barefoot Contessa. Fingers crossed I can eventually get a real job, so I can purchase exclusively *good* ingredients.
Aside from baking and eating my way around the Triangle, I also love visiting friends and family in Texas, my home state and land of the best BBQ (sorry, not sorry, NC friends). During football season, I take great pleasure in loudly cheering for my TCU Horned Frogs (my undergrad institution) and Dallas Cowboys.
Grad School Foodie 