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Hi, my name is Amy Powers-Valentine! And Kitchen Switchen is my little corner of the internet kitchen. In this space, I will be sharing flavorful recipes that I love to make (and eat) in real life. My latest adventure is the cooking blog, recipe saver, and equal parts family reconnection vehicle — Kitchen Switchen.
Who we are?
Well, I am Amy, and I currently live in Phoenix, Arizona — wearing flip-flops most of the time. I am a mom to four grown children and one teenager who just started her freshman year in college. Throughout my life, I have been many things: entrepreneur, party planner, widow, mother, and a dog owner. But the one thing that I have always been — a lover of food!
I have lived life, had so much fun, loved, struggled, suffered heartbreaks, you name it. As I look back at my life’s movies, I have found my best memories around food. Whether I enjoyed cooking dinner, planning a party, or celebrating family birthdays, special occasions, or the holidays. There I was, in the kitchen, enjoying every gram of it.
Maybe it’s the smell of food, the laughs around the kitchen, or people’s faces when they try my food. It’s all magical to me.
But why food?
My love for entertaining, cooking, and food comes from one person — Martha Stewart. Didn’t we all fall in love with cooking because of her?
As a young wife, I felt a bit lost when entertaining and cooking. I still remember myself watching Martha Stewart’s Thanksgiving episode on TV. I followed her every step as I tried to cook my first turkey. I can still picture myself writing down some pointers and notes — this was way before YouTube, so I had to pay close attention! Her advice was simple, easy, and precisely what my nervous younger self needed to pull off my first Thanksgiving. While I am sure it wasn’t even close to what she cooked that day, I felt accomplished, proud, and happier than ever.
Fast-forward almost 30 years, and I am still turning to Martha to prepare my turkey year after year. Now I can find the right episode on YouTube, making it that much easier. More than teaching me how to cook a turkey, I learned that celebrations could still be simple, elegant, and memorable when you prep with love. I still hold many of her tips and ideas close to my heart, and I love sharing my take on those today.
I became the person the family turned to for party planning without realizing it. My over-the-top, organized personality made it easy, but more importantly, FUN. Planning these get-togethers for my friends and family filled me with pure joy.
I love the smell of food cooking in the kitchen, the bustle of a busy family getting together, the candles, the laughter of friends catching up, and the anticipation of sitting down for a marvelous meal and the fun the evening will ensue.
You could say I particularly enjoyed the opportunity to connect and reconnect with loved ones and friends over recipes. Whether it was a Thanksgiving turkey or a progressive appetizer party, coming together is what makes it so valuable.
In fact, one of the silver linings of this devastating pandemic was perhaps that — spending time together. It has been touching seeing families cooking and eating together again.
The Kitchen Switchen Story
Some of my neighbors and friends might recognize the name Kitchen Switchen — a small kitchen store in Phoenix owned by a local mom. I met Christa years ago while our kids attended the same preschool — it seems like a lifetime ago, honestly. While Christa chose to pursue other projects, the name stayed with me over the years.
Today, she has allowed me to bring this fine lady, Kitchen Switchen, back to life. Not on the streets of Phoenix anymore, but on the digital world for all of you to meet and connect with her.
Like Christa, I also sold my business recently and wanted to pursue other projects. As I was wondering what my next steps would be, I tried to find a way to connect on a project with my two daughters, who, like me years, ago just starting out their lives and families. Yes, they too grew up loving a good recipe and fun dinner party.
My love for my family, for spending time together, and the excitement of bringing the lady, Kitchen Switchen, to others is sure to be an adventure for the three of us. I genuinely hope you will join our family and a share recipe, try new dishes, and pictures of your family hosting the most wonderful gatherings. We look to connect and become one big online family!
Will you join us?
Whether we are talking about baking, houseware, cooking, kids, family, entertaining, or Martha Stewart, we want Kitchen Switchen to become that space where we can connect. I realize so much of what we do happens online. And while we cannot attend dinner parties everywhere together, we can all converge in this digital space made for hosts, moms, kids, daughters, sons, and everyone who wants to join.
While I will still do much planning, hosting, and whatnot, my daughter’s will take care of the digital side of things in a fun and entertaining manner. But for me personally, I can’t make any promises on TikTok dancing videos but just wait for my daughters. I know you will love them, just as I do.
If you join us in this ride to host and share a fantastic journey of family, passion, elegance, not so elegant, and entertaining ideas for all to enjoy, I will be blessed.
This is only the beginning for Kitchen Switchen. I can already smell the countless recipes we will cook together — and see the many tables we will decorate together.
Welcome to our kitchen, we will switch your kitchen an
