About

Hi.
I am Meli. 

I started this blog to bring some order in my thoughts and to direct my energy and attention to the things I like most of all - to eat, cook, travel and take pictures. On the other hand, I always wanted to make an archive of my cooking attempts. Up to now the blog deffinitely subserves both intentions.

For many years I've been boring my relatives taking pictures of them on every occasion. One day I realized I was probably annoying them, so I started to find a new object. Bearing in mind I spend most of my spare time in the kitchen, food was the first idea. Pears never complain to be photographed, soups stay quietly and patiently while I change the props around them and the aperture values of my camera. Sometimes I even suspect them of flirting with the camera.
In fact, I do not use many props in my pictures, the dish itself is worth photographing. I feel respect to every single ingredient, to its scent, texture,  details of its shape. I like to imagine how it feels in the mouth. Raw ingredients deserve attention before turned into something delicious.

I have two children I adore. A teen-age daughter, named Violet, a better copy of me. An eight years old son, Peter, a blond copy of his father. A husband, D., who was and remains my big love. 

I love chocolate and I eat at least one bar a day. I am addicted to sun, so summer is my season. I smile a lot and I always try to find the funny aspects of the situations. I think about food most of my day, in fact I have a food obsession. 

Why confessions of the spoon? Every spoon has a rich experience in my home. So have forks and knifes. I like to try new eating places, but I am a devoted home cooker. I spend most of my evenings in the kitchen preparing something and I never consider it as a waste of time. Cooking is not only passion, it is also my way to avoid bad thoughts, to beat depression, to express love. The chicken soup for my soul is to be behind the stove surrounded by all types of flavours. I have no culinary training and I am a strictly recipe driven "chef" - so I like to try other people's recipes before making my own variations. 
I like to try new recipes which is a kind of risky task in my family. My men are quite conservative in their taste and they can eat their favourite 20 dishes for years. My daughter is the risk-taker, who tastes everything I make and always finds the proper words to express her countenance and enthusiasm. And I will always appreciate this.
I think everybody can create something special and tasty if they have the most important ingredients - love, passion and creativity. Hope to possess at least two of them.
If you want to reach me, send me an e-mail to: thesmilingspoon (at) gmail (dot) com.

This blog is a new beginning for me. My heart feels it will be a long-lasting journey.