Welcome to Meals, Heels, and Cocktails.
Hi, I’m Lauren and I created this blog as a place where I can share some of the things that I love. And food, shoes and cocktails are at the top of the list… well, right after my family – and my dog. I wanted my blog to be a place that was light and fun and where you don’t have to take things too seriously. Because life is complicated, but good food and good drinks, don’t have to be.
So if you’re if you’re like me and want everything that you put on the table to be fabulous, but don’t want fussy or complicated recipes, then you’ve come to the right place.
My food obsession goes way back. Some of my best childhood memories are food memories. Baking Christmas cookies with my mom, going upstair in our two family house to see what my grandmother cooked for dinner and always stealing a little for myself. My grandmother teaching me to make homemade pierogies. She had to show you how because she never measured anything, just dumped the ingredients on the table. Pulling fresh steamers (piss clams) and crabs from Barnegat Bay with my uncles and cousins and cooking them for dinner. So many wonderful memories. Food was always an important part of my life and when I had my own children, I tried to instill a love of cooking and eating and tradition with them. And hopefully, I created some food memories for them to cherish.
Just a little about me. I’m married for nearly 30 years to my husband Michael ( and that right there is impressive these days!) We have three amazing grown children. Alex is 26, a pharmacist and planning his wedding for this coming June; Hannah’s 25 and pursuing her MFA and teaching writing at Purdue, and Ben is 19 and a sophomore at Penn State on the marketing track (food marketing maybe???).
I’ve lived through everything from picky eaters ( I used to bribe my kids to try food…a dollar to try it, two if they liked it), to soccer mom meals (other than take out) to feeding varying numbers of vegetarians in the house. I never really had a go to ‘recipe repertoire’ and I rarely made the same things twice in the same month. Food was always somewhat of an adventure in our home and as a result my kids were and are pretty adventurous eaters. Today, one of my favorite things about my grown-up children is that they all love to cook. I love nothing more than when they text me pictures of the meals they’ve cooked….I guess they take after their mom a little.
While I’m currently learning to enjoy my empty nest, and relearning to make only enough food for 2 instead of 5, I understand the challenge of providing good, wholesome food, that the whole family will enjoy, and that doesn’t add to the stress of everyday life.
And, to save myself from the dreaded empty nest syndrome, I rescued the sweetest lab mix almost 2 years ago. He’s named Marty after retired NJ Devil’s goalie Martin Brodeur. And he has his own instagram! Marty the_Lab_Brodeur (get it?!) He’s just slightly spoiled and is now known as my fourth child. And yes, I cook for Marty too. He’s partial to chicken and rice. And ironically, he is the pickiest eater of all of my children!
If you want to know more about my professional background check out my Work with me page.
I hope you enjoy the time you spend here and come back often.
Cheers!
Lauren