I spent the earliest years of my career working part-time as a private chef to supplement my writing income. When I tell people about this time in my life, I often get asked about the dishes I would make, and the assumptions skew toward fancy restaurant food.

Sure, there are plenty of those types of private chefs out there, but that was never me. I’ve always been a proud home cook, not a restaurant chef. This meant that my clients ended up being people who wanted my type of food. If someone wanted restaurant-level menus served in their house, I was the wrong fit for them. If they wanted home cooking, I was their person.