About Me
The most important ingredient is love; as you share your dishes with others, you will help satisfy and nourish the soul.
Jessica grew up in the bustling cities of the San Francisco Bay Area. With Northern California being a melting pot of various cultures and cuisines, her curiosity and appreciation for food was embraced.
Her fondest memories consisted of weekend visits to Oakland Chinatown with her family to shop for fresh vegetables, roasted meats for dinner, and special pink bakery boxes loaded with Chinese sweets. From a very young age, Jessica noticed how food was able to gather people together and create bonds – she knew that food would have a very important role in her life.
Jessica’s passion for food led her to study Food Science for her bachelors and masters degree in college at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, California. During her studies she learned about food technology and how food is delivered from “farm to fork”, putting the focus on providing safe and wholesome food and understanding the consumer.
She then pursued a career in nutrition product development, where she is currently a Research Scientist developing healthy food, beverage and children’s products for people around the world.
With the hunger to still learn about different aspects of food, Jessica studied Culinary Arts at The Art Institute of Orange County, in Santa Ana California. In culinary school, she learned how to combine her food science knowledge with the products she produced in each class.
She was finally able to demystify some of her fears in cooking and learned how to create some of her favorite foods. She loved the challenge in creating eye catching dishes, while maintaining the quality of her product and balancing flavors. Not every dish was a success, but each lesson enabled her to grow in her understanding of food.
Now as a Certified Culinary Scientist, Jessica enjoys developing recipes in her home test kitchen where she is able to infuse food science knowledge in every recipe created.
Media Mentions
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About the Photos
I am lucky to have a husband who likes photography, as he helps me take the delicious food photos that you see on the website. We use a Canon 5D Mark III
Canon Rebel XSi with a 24-105mm f/4 lens
Everything you see is real. There are no food photography tricks like using Elmer’s glue to mimic milk, or spraying food with certain chemicals to make them look shiny. We know we’re not professionals so we don’t feel the need to compensate for the lack of experience. Everything you see I make in our home kitchen and we’ve perfected the 5-minute photo-shoot drill. After I plate up the dish and style the presentation in our little studio, Jason takes the photos and when he’s done the dinner table is set and we’re ready to eat! I often post our photos to Food Gawker or Tastespotting if I think we have a chance at getting featured. I hope you enjoy viewing my creations as much as I love making them!
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I'm Jessica Gavin and food is my passion! This site features my recipes, restaurant reviews and lifestyle insights. If you enjoy what you see, you should consider subscribing and following me via the links below! 
