The Thin Chef

Katie Farmand’s blog, the Thin Chef, is not, despite its name, about healthy cooking. Thank goodness. Though she is not opposed to a little wellness now and then, Farmand loves food as much as we do, and her indulgent recipes are proof.

Farmand, an active food52 user, started the Thin Chef three years ago when friends, roommates and her boyfriend (now husband), for whom she cooked almost nightly, kept asking for recipes. Through the blog she hoped to show them that cooking is not intimidating: “My goal is to teach people that cooking isn’t this out-of-reach skill and that eating real, whole foods is delicious.”

Farmland, a freelance writer and recipe tester, grew up in a food-loving family, influenced heavily by her mother, who wrote a cookbook, and her father, who cooked at a bed and breakfast and makes his own from-scratch bread and pasta and grows organic vegetables. Farmland says that she "comes by cooking honestly.”

She updates the blog regularly with whatever inspires her. It could be granola, grilled pizzas, perfectly crispy roasted potatoes or a buttermilk dressing that looks so good and so easy to make. She is clearly a jack of all trades, and modest to boot: "I'm not a health food blogger, but I often cook healthy foods. I'm not a baker, but I sometimes bake. I'm not trained as a chef, and I'm not a professional photographer. I'm a home cook, and I cook because I love food." That is clear. Her recipes are straightforward and homey, simple and inviting.