Welcome to Tina's Worktop

Hi friends and family!  I'd like to welcome you all to my kitchen worktop.  I've been putting together this site for the past few weeks, and today, I'd like to officially share it with you as a finished work-in-progress.  On this site, you'll find fresh new recipe ideas to cook or for inspiration.  Every recipe that is posted will be something that I have prepared and made (and loved).  I get a lot of ideas by observing the scene around me, no matter where I am, so be prepared for a wide spectrum of culinary creations.

There has been a lot of change in my life these past few months, and I've used this transition period to pursue my passion for cooking and writing.  As many of you know, I graduated law school in 2011, and moved to Los Angeles to begin my legal career.  I spent a little over a year and a half practicing banking and finance law.  During that time, I started dating my middle school sweetheart, and eventually we got married this past winter.  Since his career is in London, we decided to relocate there, and I left my job at the end of May.  Since May, in between all the packing, moving, and the few vacations, I have been creating this website and developing recipes to share.

While it has been the perfect time to create the Worktop, it has been a little challenging with the circumstances surrounding the move.  We have been traveling quite a bit for the past few weeks, and have not had a permanent kitchen.  I also had to pack and ship my all kitchenware to London, so it will be on a boat for the next few weeks.  In London, we will be moving again in October to our permanent home, so I won't be unpacking any boxes until then.  Without a familiar kitchen and my full set of kitchenware, I've had to improvise with the cooking and baking.  Unfortunately too, I have also had to leave behind my Kitchenaid mixer since the voltage is different in the UK.  So while I will keep posting on the Worktop in the meantime, I'll be very happy when I am fully settled in my new kitchen!

Tonight, I leave on my one-way ticket to London.  I'm glad that I'm able to launch this site from Los Angeles.  It'll be a bridge between this chapter of my life in Los Angeles and the next chapter waiting to start in London.  I hope you enjoy reading and following the Worktop, and use it as a way to keep in touch. Use it also to read about some of my adventures in the new city through a culinary  lens.  Feel free to also subscribe to my page via the form below, or follow my page on Facebook to get updates.

As a farewell to California (and the beach and sunshine), we had a last bonfire here this past weekend.  Though this isn't a recipe post, a few ideas to leave you with -- s'mores and grilled cantaloupe.