About Me

Hi, I’m Nessa, and I started this blog over ten years ago, as a means for sharing recipes I love with my family and friends. I have four children, now aged between 18 and 10, but at the time of starting my blog my children were very young, so blogging proved to be a really lovely social outlet and through it, I gained many new food-loving friends. After school, I trained as a nurse in St. James’s Hospital, Dublin, before completing a bachelor’s in nursing studies at Trinity College Dublin. In 2008 I took a break from nursing and embarked on a career in food. For a number of years, I hosted cookery classes from my kitchen and went on to demonstrate at many food festivals around the country, including Bloom. In 2012 I was approached by New Island Books to write a family cookbook, and to my delight, it was published in 2013. Apron Strings received wonderful reviews and won best new cookbook at the gourmand world awards 2013. For the past ten years, I’ve worked as a food writer and stylist. I had weekly and bi-monthly columns in The Westmeath Independent and Easy Parenting magazine, each for five years. I'm also incredibly proud to have a monthly 'Home Nurse' column, which I’ve written, styled and photographed for the past six years, with The Farmer's Journal - Irish Country Living, as it merges my training as a nurse with my love for food. My food writing has brought me on an amazing journey and in 2014 I was thrilled to be asked to become a member of the prestigious Irish Food Writers' Guild. With the help of my son, Jack, I've brought together some of my favourite Christmas recipes in a Christmas eBook, which is free to download. In October 2015, I embarked on creating a fundraising cookbook with the students and staff of my children's national school, An Grianan N.S., Mount Temple. I collected and edited the recipes, while Jack designed the book. I also styled and photographed the dishes, with the help of the school children. I was delighted to give my time and energy to such a rewarding project and was incredibly proud when it was launched by Neven Maguire in 2016.

I'm on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. If you would like to contact me directly, you can do so at NessasFamilyKitchen@gmail.com.

Irish Food Writers' Guild Summer Trip 2018

Panel discussion at Ballymaloe Lit Fest  

Behind the scenes food styling with Donal Skehan and Sharon Hearne Smith.

Demonstrating with Edward Hayden, at Taste of Dublin.

Demonstrating at Totally Tipperary in 2011.

With Neven Maguire, while on work experience, at his restaurant, July 2011. 

With the lovely Rachel Allen, while on a course at Ballymaloe in 2008.

My dear Dad, who passed away in December 2012, was a great man for picking up the nicest of props at auctions. I loved that he took such an interest in the blog. I miss him desperately.