How it all began
When I received a panini press for Christmas last year, 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. I’d never blogged before, although I’d been observing from the sidelines for years. Depending on how you look at it, the timing couldn’t be better…or worse. 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 Breville Ikon 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 “Panini” Kathy
I grew up in the Silicon Valley back when it was still known as the “South Bay” (not that far back - I’m talking the ’80s). My school libraries were, it seems, a bit ahead of the curve when it came to being outfitted with computers - I was plucking away on Atari 800s and Apple Pluses pretty early on. I turned out to be more of a user of technology as opposed to a programmer, but it has remained a constant in my life.
Cooking has also been among my favorite hobbies for as long as I can remember. While I get much enjoyment out of planning and preparing food, my true passion is for eating - I tend to gravitate toward so-called comfort foods, simpler cooking techniques and a few shortcuts now and then. Great taste is always my ultimate goal, and if it happens to look pretty too, all the better!
Before taking some time off this year to focus on raising my daughter, I worked in online marketing and advertising for several large, well-known brands. These days, I’m enjoying the delicious life of a foodblogger in sunny San Diego.
Contact
Got feedback? Questions? You can reach me by e-mail at panini[DOT]happy[AT]yahoo[DOT]com
