Apron Strings Blog : MyBlogHer Profile

We are a birth mother and daughter, Donna and Anne, respectively,  who reunited 27 years after Anne’s adoption. Primary among the many things we reconnected through was our shared love of food and cooking. After Donna published her first cookbook, we teamed up on “101 Things to Do With Tofu" and had such a great time we knew we’d have to do more joint food projects. With the economy in peril and with Anne being at home with her first baby, a food blog focusing on affordable cooking seemed like a natural!

Donna brings many years of cooking experience to Fab Frugal Food, including expertise in Southwestern cooking, while Anne’s posts offer more vegetarian, allergen-friendly, and other healthy fare (with some decadent exceptions, of course). Together we hope to inspire you AND learn from you as we go!

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Donna Kelly is a dedicated food enthusiast and has spent 30 years developing her cooking skills, combining practical everyday cooking experience with some professional training at a Culinary Institute of America Boot Camp, the Santa Fe School of Cooking, and at other cooking schools. She considers every recipe a challenge- and she remakes it with gourmet flair while still being affordable and accessible to the average home cook.

Donna is the author of five published cookbooks: 101 Things to do with a Tortilla; 101 Things to do with Chicken; 101 Things to do with Canned Soup; and French Toast: Sweet and Savory Dishes for Every Meal; all published by Gibbs Smith Publisher. Donna has one book soon to be published: Quesadillas. She has also finished another two books, 101 Things to do with a Toaster Oven, and 100 Appetizers for under Five Dollars, both of which will be published in 2009.

Donna has been a repeat guest on Martha Stewart’s Sirius Satellite Radio Show Everyday Food. She is a regular guest on morning television shows Good Things Utah and Studio 5 in Salt Lake City. Donna recently won a national recipe contest in Cooking Light Magazine’s Ultimate Reader Recipe Contest. Her recipe was “Lemon Raspberry Fruit Nachos,” which was published in Cooking Light Magazine in the January/February 2009 issue.

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Anne Tegtmeier has spent most of her life as a modern dancer. After growing up in Colorado, she graduated magna cum laude from the Boston Conservatory, where she received her BFA in dance. Since 2001 she has also worked as a licensed massage therapist. Anne has spent many years as a vegetarian and is a passionate amateur cook. Her vegetarian chili recipe from “101 Things To Do With Tofu” was a finalist on the first season of Food Network’s Ultimate Recipe Showdown (she came in second in her category). She gave birth to her first child, Lily, in April 2008.