Good Food, Honestly.

Our Story

Our food story doesn't start with culinary degrees or fancy restaurants. It begins in two small, sun-drenched kitchens, separated by miles but united by the same values. For Emma, it was the scent of her grandfather's tomato sauce simmering on the stove every Sunday, filling the house with warmth and the promise of family gathered around the table. For Clara, it was kneading bread dough beside her grandmother at dawn, learning that the best recipes aren't just about ingredients they're about patience, intention, and love baked into every loaf.

We met during a community cooking class five years ago, and within minutes of talking, we realized we shared the same frustration. Online recipe sites had become overwhelming endless scrolling through life stories that had nothing to do with the dish, inconsistent measurements, untested recipes, and photos that looked nothing like what actually came out of the oven. We wanted something different. Something honest. Something that felt like cooking with a trusted friend rather than chasing an impossible standard.

That frustration turned into late-night brainstorming sessions in Emma's kitchen, where we'd test recipes until 2 AM, scribbling notes and adjusting measurements until we got it exactly right. We both quit our day jobs Emma from marketing, Clara from graphic design to build Recipes by Emma from the ground up. The name stuck from our original Instagram account, and while it started with Emma's solo content, it quickly became clear this was a partnership that made everything better.

What Makes Us Different

When we launched this site in 2022, we made a commitment: every single recipe would be something we'd actually make for our own families. No filler content. No recipes thrown together just to rank on Google. No cutting corners. This site is our answer to the overly complicated, perfection-driven world of online recipes. Here, we celebrate real food for real life the kind of food that's reliable, deeply satisfying, and meant to be shared.

Emma brings a methodical, almost scientific approach to recipe development. She's the one who tests a recipe seven times to make sure the timing is exact, who measures ingredients to the gram, and who won't publish anything until she's confident it'll work in anyone's kitchen, anywhere. Clara brings an artistic eye and deep knowledge of flavor pairings. She's the reason our recipes not only work but taste exceptional balancing acid, fat, salt, and sweetness in a way that makes every bite memorable. Together, we create recipes that are both bulletproof and delicious.

Our Food Philosophy

"The best meals are the ones that remind us we're home."

Our Recipe Development Process

People often ask how we develop recipes, so here's an honest look behind the scenes. It starts with an idea usually something we're craving or a technique we want to master. We research extensively, not to copy other recipes, but to understand the fundamental science and traditional methods behind a dish. Then comes the testing phase, which is far more involved than most people realize.

For a typical recipe, we'll make it at least 3-5 times, adjusting variables each time. We change baking temperatures, swap ingredient ratios, test different mixing methods, and time everything precisely. Emma keeps detailed spreadsheets tracking every variation oven temperature, pan size, resting times, ingredient brands while Clara focuses on flavor balance and presentation. We taste obsessively, sometimes making the same recipe three days in a row with tiny tweaks until it's perfect.

Once we're satisfied, we send the recipe to our small group of volunteer testers real home cooks with varying skill levels and different kitchen setups. Their feedback is invaluable. They catch things we might miss, like unclear instructions or steps that seem obvious to us but confusing to someone making the dish for the first time. Only after this entire process which can take anywhere from two weeks to three months depending on the recipe's complexity do we publish.

From Our Lens to Your Screen

The visuals matter just as much as the recipes themselves. Every photograph and video on this site is our own work Clara handles most of the photography with her background in design, while Emma assists with styling and setup. We shoot in natural light whenever possible, using professional DSLR cameras and editing software, but we never manipulate images to make food look unrealistic.

What you see in our photos is exactly what came out of our ovens. No food styling tricks like using motor oil instead of syrup or undercooked meat to keep it looking juicy. We photograph the actual dish we're asking you to make, styled simply and authentically. If a pie has a crack in the crust or a cake's frosting isn't perfectly smooth, we show it because that's what real home baking looks like, and it's still absolutely delicious.

We've invested in high quality equipment over the years proper lighting, backdrops, and lenses because we believe you deserve to see clear, detailed images that help you understand what you're making. But we're not professional food photographers trying to create art. We're home cooks documenting real food, and that authenticity is something we're proud of. Every image corresponds perfectly to its recipe, and we never reuse photos between different articles.

What We Cook and Why

Our recipe collection reflects our personal tastes and what we genuinely love to cook. You'll find a lot of comfort food here the kind of dishes that make your house smell incredible and bring people together around the table. We're drawn to recipes with rich, developed flavors: slow-cooked stews, perfectly caramelized roasted vegetables, bread with a crackly crust and tender crumb, desserts that balance sweetness with complexity.

We also prioritize seasonal cooking. Not in a rigid, dogmatic way, but because food simply tastes better when it's in season. You'll see more stone fruit desserts in summer, more root vegetable dishes in winter, and lots of preservation techniques in fall when produce is abundant. This isn't just about flavor it's about connecting with the rhythm of the year and making the most of what's available and affordable.

That said, we're not food snobs. You'll find both rustic farmhouse recipes and weeknight shortcuts here. We believe there's a place for the slow-braised short ribs that take all day and the 30-minute pasta that saves dinner on a busy Tuesday. What matters is that both are delicious, well-tested, and made with care.

Our Commitment to You

We know that when you're standing in your kitchen with a recipe pulled up on your phone, you're trusting us. Maybe you're cooking for your family, or trying to impress someone special, or just want to feed yourself something nourishing after a long day. That trust is something we take seriously, and it shapes every decision we make about this site.

We commit to giving you recipes that work. Not "probably work" or "worked for us once." Actually, consistently work. We commit to being honest about time and effort. We commit to using clear, precise language in our instructions no vague terms like "cook until done" without telling you what "done" looks like. We commit to responding to your questions and troubleshooting when something doesn't go as planned.

Most importantly, we commit to putting your needs as a cook first. We don't stuff our recipe posts with long, rambling stories just to improve SEO. We don't bury the actual recipe at the bottom of the page. We don't use confusing measurements or skip crucial steps. Every choice we make from how we format recipes to which ads we allow on the site is filtered through one question: Does this help or hinder the person trying to cook this dish?

Beyond the Recipes

While recipes are our focus, we also share techniques, kitchen wisdom, and ingredient deep dives that we wish someone had taught us earlier. How to sharpen your knives properly. Why resting meat actually matters. The difference between Dutch-process and natural cocoa powder and when each one is essential. These aren't just random tips they're the kind of knowledge that transforms you from someone following a recipe to someone who truly understands cooking.

We also write about the failures, because cooking is full of them. The bread that didn't rise. The sauce that broke. The cake that collapsed in the center. We share what went wrong and how we fixed it, because those lessons are often more valuable than the successes. Cooking isn't about perfection it's about learning, adapting, and getting better over time.

Join Our Community

This is more than a recipe site; it's a community of people who love to cook, who value honesty over perfection, and who believe that good food is one of life's great pleasures. We read every comment and email ourselves not a virtual assistant, not an automated response, but actually us, Emma and Clara, usually with coffee in hand and probably some flour on our shirts.

We love hearing your stories. The time you made our lasagna for your in-laws and it was a hit. The birthday cake that turned out perfectly. Even the disasters (they make the best stories). Your feedback helps us improve, your questions inspire new content, and your enthusiasm reminds us why we do this work.

We also maintain active social media accounts where we share behind-the-scenes glimpses of our testing process, quick tips, and what we're cooking for ourselves when the cameras are off. These are the only accounts we manage, and you'll always get authentic content from us, never scheduled posts written by someone else or generic food photos pulled from stock libraries.

Looking Forward

We're constantly evolving. Every month, we're developing new recipes, refining our photography skills, and finding better ways to teach cooking techniques. We're building a comprehensive recipe index that makes it easy to find exactly what you're looking for, whether it's dietary restrictions, specific ingredients, or cooking methods. We're planning video content that shows techniques in real-time, because sometimes watching someone do something once is worth a thousand written words.

But our core mission remains unchanged: to create a place where home cooks can find reliable, delicious recipes without the noise and nonsense that clutters so much of the internet. A place that respects your time, your intelligence, and your desire to simply make good food.

We're honored that you're here, whether this is your first visit or you've been with us since the beginning. Have a question or a story to share? We'd genuinely love to hear it. Cooking is better when it's shared, and that includes the conversation around it.

Happy cooking,
– Emma & Clara