I am Joy, I am the blogger, photographer (still perfecting the art), recipe creator/editor and food styler for “1 Cup of Joy”. I also do some of the food tasting, but fortunately that job is shared between my husband, a whole lot of friends and me.

I find there is nothing more satisfying than spending time with people you love over a fresh home cooked meal. And if the conversation is about Art or History, even better. I grew up in a household of foodies with parents who loved to cook and host, this lead to a lot of memories of sharing a meal with people I love. Making the same food again is my way of re-living those memories and creating new ones.

I love getting to know people around me, make new friends and learn their stories. Sharing food is an integral part of human story and there is nothing that brings everyone together like food. As M.F.K Fisher said ‘There is a communion of more than our bodies when bread is broken and wine drunk.’ 

My long term dream is to own and run a Bed and Breakfast. But for now I just want to be remembered for the food I make and memories I create with my friends and family.

‘1 Cup Of Joy’, is just an effort to catalogue the recipes of all the dishes that came out of my (or a friend’s) Grandmothers Kitchen, my parents kitchen, from the local food cart I frequented growing up or my own kitchen experiments with new ingredients, share memories and hopefully help you all create new ones.

I am good at figuring things out and really enjoy the process of deconstructing a dish, understanding the various ingredients that went in it and building it all together, sometimes to something completely new. This is especially handy skill for those times when I really like something, but cannot get a recipe for it. On occasions you will find a post with a recipe that is my twist to something classic.

My family is very diverse and multicultural and so is our food. So you will find recipes from around the world and/or a fusions of worlds on this site. Most recipes will require everyday ingredients, simple methods and a generous cup of Joy.