THe girl behind the monogrammed napkins…

Hi, I’m Savannah. Nice to meet you…

Honestly, I feel like that needs to be my lead off because if I met you in the non-virtual world, that’s how our exchange would start. Welcome to Savannah Makes!

Yes, that’s Savannah, like the city in Georgia. No, I was not named after the fair city, but after my great-grandmother. I am a blue and white china junkie, and though a practicing therapist, I believe that listening to a podcast while cooking or a Pilates class are my own personal therapy sessions. I grew up with a strong Southern influence, as my father is from the Deep South. My mother is from the Deep South as well, only Deep South Texas. Therefore, I grew up with family recipes that were deep-fried or topped with homemade pico.

I was born in Dallas, where there is no shortage of good food to be sure, but when I was two, my family relocated to South Texas near my mother’s family’s ranch and cattle feed yard. It was at that point that began spending a lot of time with my beloved grandmother—learning family recipes, making memories in the kitchen, and staying up watching 18-wheelers load cattle in the middle of the night on weekends. I was fortunate to grow up eating authentic Mexican food as a child and developed a deep appreciation for the culture which I still hold to this day, so you will probably see that come through here. My favorite thing to eat as a kid when I was not stuffing myself with steak? Fried frog legs. But specifically, the fried frog legs from Sam’s, which is located just across the border, legitimately so close that you could pop right over for a quick lunch (or a frog leg snack!). When I was seven, we decided to move back to Dallas, but the Deep South Texas culture stayed with me; therefore, I have a deep love for a mesquite tree, a large cut of meat, and flowering cactus.

I was lucky to grow up in two different worlds as a child. To go from big city Dallas, the land of smocked dresses and napkins in laps, to South Texas the land of rattlesnakes, brush country, and dusty senderos. I developed two very different sides of my personality, which you will probably experience here, too. Fun fact: As a child in South Texas I once had a pet longhorn named Bunny and a pet deer named Bubba that I raised and bottle-fed in our backyard after we found him abandoned. Yes, I have pictures of us releasing him back into the wild when he was old enough. Recipes for me are connection, a piece of the past that I can bring to a future table, and share with others: There is a connection between the hands that prepared it, the people who enjoy it, and the feelings that develop around the table during a meal.

Perhaps this is how I’ve learned to integrate the two sides of my personality and interests—as both sides of my personality love food. To address the steak affection mentioned above: When I was in second grade, I was asked to write an ode to something. To celebrate my love of beef, specifically a grilled steak, I picked that was my subject matter. Somehow, I feel like I just told you everything you need to know about me. I’ve been associating food and feelings and then writing it all down for some time now, so this blog of sorts feels like a natural connection.

See also: I love anything smothered in queso, and if you pronounce the “g” sound in guacamole, I cringe.