About Me

    How it all began

    Hi, I’m Kathy Strahs. When I received a panini press for Christmas in 2007, I was, of course, grateful to my sister for the thoughtful gift. She knew I loved to cook and panini presses were the “it” gift for cooks, thanks to Oprah and her “Favorite Things.” But in the back of my head I was also thinking “Uh oh…you know I’m gonna use this once and then add it the appliance wasteland that is my pantry.” That’s what I did with the ice cream maker, the crepe machine, the pizzelle machine – and those are the ones that I can at least remember. Good intentions fallen to the wayside. I had to break the cycle, but I would need some serious motivation.

    Then came the idea for a panini blog – I would come up with new ideas for panini, test them out on my press and write up my recipes. At the time, I was a new mommy to a baby girl and while I had scarcely any control over my schedule, I did have pockets of time that seemed ripe for a creative outlet. And so Panini Happy (my other baby) was born.

    Now my panini maker gets plenty of use! It’s been so much fun to get inspired, try out some variations and come up with great-tasting results (most of the time). Each experiment is like a little project that I get to conceptualize, execute – and eat! It may be the job I’ve been looking for all my life :-)

    About Kathy

    I channel my passions for cooking and online media into two food blogs: Panini Happy, with over 100 creative grilled sandwich recipes and helpful panini-making tips, and Cooking On the Side, featuring the recipes I find printed on food packaging. I love good food and I believe that inspiration for it can be found in unexpected places. I am a featured contributor on Food Network’s Food2 website. My work has been featured in Pillsbury Magazine and the Associated Press, on the New York Times, Saveur, TLC and Food News Journal websites and highlighted in The Wall Street Journal. In 2010 and 2011, I was listed among the Top 50 Mom Food Bloggers and Top 100 Mom Food Bloggers by Babble.com. I also served as an Executive Judge for the 2011 Grilled Cheese Invitational in Los Angeles.

    I entered the food world following a career in online marketing and advertising for well known consumer brands Warner Bros., Gateway and TurboTax. A Silicon Valley native and proud alumna of Stanford University, I now live in beautiful San Diego, California with my husband Mike and our two toddlers.

     

    Contact

    Got feedback? Questions? You can reach me by e-mail at panini[DOT]happy[AT]yahoo[DOT]com

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