My name is Patrice and I've been running the Circle B Kitchen blog since the fall of 2009.  I’m Mom to 3 grown children who are amazing and wonderful human beings.  I’m mother-in-law to 3 very impressive and loveable people.  I’m Grandma to 6 ridiculously cute, smart and funny grandchildren.  I’m wife (for 52 years) to the most incredible man I’ve ever met.   I'm a retired marriage and family therapist.  I’m 72 years old, and I'm passionate about food, cooking and all things culinary.

 (This picture was taken like 13 years ago :)

Not too long ago we lived in a very beautiful spot on the Central Coast of California, overlooking the Monterey Bay. But the lure of family (our two daughters married brothers from Nebraska) pulled us out of all that beauty, and we started a new adventure in the Midwest, where beauty has been absolutely re-defined for us.

 

In 2002, we bought a tiny homestead cabin built in 1901, set in a wooded plot of land near the Platte river in the Nebraska prairie.  

We began remodeling/building, and in 2006 we sold our home in California and headed East.  And over those years, we slowly built ourselves a beautiful home,

which lovingly wraps itself around that original cabin and includes the kitchen of my dreams.

We are also the keepers of 6 chickens who provide us with all the eggs we need and amuse us greatly.

Leaving California and moving to a rural life in the midwest has challenged and enchanted us.  The changes for us have been dramatic, from the weather, to the cultural and everything in between.  It's been 18 years since we bought that little cabin, and we couldn't be happier that we took the leap. Of course, being near the kids and grandkids completes the picture (our son and his family moved here from Colorado in 2013).

Why Circle B, you ask?  Growing up, my husband's grandparents lived in a wonderful cabin in the Sierra Nevada mountains, where he would spend many a summer and holiday.  The logo of the family which was burned into the logs supporting the fireplace mantel was a circle with a B inside.  A few years ago my husband decided to revive the old logo for our family, but set the circle inside the B, and our sons-in law

forged the brand which now represents our family, our history and the connectedness of our lives.  The Circle B Kitchen is all about that life and the food we love to cook. 

My family and my home are the center of my world, and my kitchen lies at the very heart of it all.