Hey! We’re RecipeHater — And We’re So Glad You Found Us
Our Story
I’ll never forget that rainy Sunday afternoon in my grandmother’s kitchen. I was seven years old, standing on a step stool, watching her weathered hands fold dough for her famous cinnamon rolls. The smell of butter and brown sugar filled the air, and she turned to me with flour on her cheek and said,
“Michelle, food isn’t just something you eat. It’s how we say I love you without words.”
That moment shaped everything I believe about cooking. I’m Michelle Wall — a 43-year-old Capricorn with a lifelong love affair with food, flavor, and the stories they tell. Whether you’re a seasoned home cook or just learning to boil pasta, you’ve found a space where heart, heritage, and heat come together.
RecipeHater was born from a simple frustration: I was tired of recipe websites that made cooking feel like a chore. Endless pop-ups, life stories before the ingredients, recipes that didn’t actually work when you tried them at home. I wanted something different — a place where real home cooks could find delicious recipes for every meal without the nonsense.
So in 2019, with a laptop, a messy kitchen, and a whole lot of determination, I started sharing recipes. Five years later, we’ve grown into a team of four passionate food lovers, and we’ve helped over 2 million home cooks put delicious meals on their tables. But honestly? We’re still the same — obsessed with good food, dedicated to recipes that actually work, and grateful for every single person who trusts us with their dinner plans.
Our Mission
Every single day, our team is in the kitchen — testing, tasting, adjusting, and yes, sometimes failing spectacularly (ask Marcus about the great soufflé incident of 2022). We don’t publish a recipe until it works. Not just for us, but for real families with real budgets and real picky eaters.
Our mission is simple: To make delicious home cooking accessible to everyone.
That means clear instructions. Honest prep times. Ingredient substitutions when you’re missing something. And recipes that taste amazing without requiring a culinary degree or a three-hour time commitment.
Because we believe that good food shouldn’t be complicated. It should be joyful.
Our Vision
Picture this: Your kid asking for seconds on vegetables. Your partner actually enjoying the healthy meal you made. Your grocery budget AND your energy levels both feeling sustainable.
We’re working toward a world where delicious family meals aren’t a Pinterest fantasy — they’re just Tuesday night in your actual kitchen. Where cooking feels less like a chore and more like an act of love. Where everyone, regardless of skill level or budget, can create food that brings people together.
Our Core Values
- Flavor First: If it doesn’t taste amazing, we don’t publish it. Period. We’d rather have fewer recipes that actually deliver than thousands that disappoint you.
- Real Kitchen Tested: Every recipe survives what we call ‘the Tuesday night test’ — tired parent, hungry family, 45 minutes or less. If it fails, we start over.
- Honest About Failures: We’ll tell you when recipes flop (looking at you, cauliflower pizza crust v3.0) because learning from our disasters saves you from yours.
- Accessible to All: We write for beginners and seasoned cooks alike. No gatekeeping, no judgment if you’ve never julienned a carrot.
- Community Over Competition: Your comments, questions, and recipe variations make us better. We’re all learning together.
Meet Our Expert Team
(The Humans Behind the Deliciousness)
Michelle Wall — Founder & Head Recipe Developer
Culinary Arts Degree (Institute of Culinary Education) • 20+ years professional kitchen experience
That’s me! A former restaurant line cook turned food blogger, I’ve spent 20+ years in kitchens — from my grandmother’s wood-burning stove in New Mexico to a Michelin-starred restaurant in Chicago (where I learned that even fancy chefs burn things sometimes). I hold a Culinary Arts degree from the Institute of Culinary Education and have contributed recipes to Food & Wine, Bon Appétit, and The New York Times Cooking section.
But honestly? My proudest credential is the stack of handwritten recipe cards my grandmother left me. That’s where all of this started, and that’s the spirit I bring to every recipe we create.
📧 [email protected] – Partnerships, general inquiries
Juliana Brekke — Clinical Nutritionist & Wellness Contributor
Master’s in Clinical Nutrition (Columbia University) • Certified Dietitian Nutritionist (CDN) • Specializing in family nutrition & dietary wellness
Juliana turns complex nutrition science into everyday deliciousness. With over 12 years of experience helping families navigate dietary challenges, allergies, and picky eaters, she ensures our “healthy” recipes are actually healthy — not just marketing fluff. Her specialty? Creating nutrient-dense meal plans and healthy adaptations that taste like comfort food.
She believes healthy eating should feel like a celebration, not a punishment. Every recipe she touches gets the nutrition stamp of approval without sacrificing an ounce of flavor.
📍 Denver, Colorado, United States
📧 [email protected] – Nutrition inquiries, recipe adaptations, wellness collaborations
Elena Brewer — Senior Recipe Developer & Test Kitchen Manager
Culinary Arts Degree (Culinary Institute of America) • Former Executive Sous Chef • 15+ years culinary experience
Elena is the engine of our test kitchen. After spending a decade in professional kitchens across New York and San Francisco, she brought her precision and passion to RecipeHater. She oversees recipe development from concept to publication, ensuring every dish meets our “Tuesday night test” standards.
Fun fact: Elena keeps a “failure journal” of every recipe that didn’t make the cut — because sometimes the best lessons come from the dishes that flopped. Ask her about the infamous seven-layer dip incident of 2021.
📍 Austin, Texas, United States
📧 [email protected] – Recipe development, test kitchen inquiries, culinary partnerships
Sarah Heydt — Recipe Blogger, Food Writer & Content Creator
BA in Creative Writing (University of Iowa) • Seasonal baking enthusiast • Published food essayist
Sarah crafts approachable, well-tested recipes wrapped in vivid storytelling. She leads our blog editorial planning and brings our narrative-driven recipe posts to life. With a background in creative writing and a genuine obsession with seasonal baking, she transforms simple ingredients into stories worth savoring.
When she’s not writing, you’ll find her experimenting with sourdough variations or hunting for the perfect pie crust technique. Her writing philosophy: every recipe has a story, and every cook deserves to feel like the hero of their kitchen.
📍 Charleston, South Carolina, United States
📧 [email protected] – Editorial partnerships, recipe submissions, content ideas
Eric Crowder — Recipe Blogger, Food Writer & Content Creator
BFA in Photography (Rhode Island School of Design) • 18+ years commercial & editorial photography
Eric captures food in natural light and oversees all RecipeHater visuals — from recipe shoots to behind-the-scenes moments that tell the story between the bites. His philosophy? Food should look as good as it tastes, but never fake. Every image you see is the actual dish we made, not a styled prop covered in hairspray.
With nearly two decades of commercial and editorial experience, Eric has shot for major food publications and brands. But his favorite work? Capturing that golden moment when a recipe comes together perfectly.
📍 Brooklyn, New York, United States (travels frequently)
📧 [email protected] – Photography inquiries, media projects, visual collaborations
Marcus Mitzewich — Pastry Chef & Baking Specialist
Pastry Arts Diploma (French Culinary Institute) • Certified Master Baker • 12+ years professional baking
Marcus is the reason our dessert section exists — and the reason Sally’s jeans don’t fit anymore. After a decade as a pastry chef in boutique bakeries across the country, he joined RecipeHater to demystify baking for home cooks. From flaky pie crusts to foolproof cookies, Marcus makes intimidating techniques feel achievable.
He tests every baking recipe at sea level AND high altitude because, as he says, “nobody should cry over a collapsed cake just because they live in Colorado.” His mission: turning nervous bakers into confident ones, one recipe at a time.
📍 Portland, Oregon, United States
📧 [email protected] – Baking questions, dessert collaborations, pastry inquiries
James Cyrus — Content Editor & Community Manager
BA in Journalism (Northwestern University) • 10+ years digital media & editorial experience
James is our resident “regular guy” — he came to us with a genuine fear of anything more complicated than scrambled eggs. That’s exactly why we hired him. With his journalism background and decade of digital media experience, James ensures our recipes are written so clearly that anyone can follow them.
If James can make it, we know you can too. He’s also our official taste-tester, grammar police, community comment responder, and the person who reminds us that not everyone knows what “chiffonade” means. His superpower? Turning chef-speak into real-people language.
📍 Chicago, Illinois, United States
📧 [email protected] – Editorial inquiries, community feedback, content partnerships
How We Actually Do This Work
Every recipe is tested at least three times—once for flavor, once for timing, and once for the “real‑life chaos test” (dog barking, phone ringing, sauce still perfect). Photography happens in natural light at the marble kitchen counter, and every post is edited for clarity, SEO, and storytelling so it’s as useful to search engines as it is to your dinner plans.
Why Trust Us?
- Verified expertise (clinical nutrition credentials, professional photography, seasoned recipe development)
- A transparent testing process you can count on
- Real reader results from real kitchens
Our Community in Action
At RecipeHater, we welcome every cook—whether you’re just learning, refining your skills, or finding your way back to joyful, nourishing meals. We believe one recipe can brighten your day and one tip can make cooking feel effortless. We listen, celebrate your wins, and create every dish to help you cook with more flavor, more confidence, and more heart.
- A single dad in Texas turned our One‑Pot Greek Lemon Chicken into a weekly ritual with his teens.
- A London college student cooked our Budget‑Friendly Thai Curry for friends, sparking “international dinner nights.”
- A reader managing Type 2 diabetes used our baking substitution tips to enjoy her favorite banana bread again—without worry.
Our Promise to You
- Recipes that work, with tips that respect your time
- Nutritional integrity grounded in evidence and experience
- A warm, open kitchen—wherever you are in the world
Our Editorial Standards
Trust is everything in our kitchen. Here’s how we maintain it:
- Every recipe is tested a minimum of three times by different team members.
- Nutritional information is calculated using USDA databases and verified by our RD.
- We clearly disclose any sponsored content or affiliate relationships.
- Reader feedback directly influences recipe updates and improvements.
- We update recipes when better techniques or ingredients become available.
Let’s Stay Connected
We actually read our emails (Sally checks them with her morning coffee). Whether you have a recipe question, want to share how a dish turned out, or just want to say hi — we’d love to hear from you.
| General Inquiries | [email protected] |
|---|---|
| Recipe Questions | [email protected] |
| Technical Support | [email protected] |
| Business & Media | [email protected] |
| Phone | +1 (301) 555-0147 |
| Fax | +1 (301) 555-0147 |
| Mailing Address | 1309 Coffeen Avenue STE 1200 Sheridan, Wyoming 82801 United States |
Response Times: We typically respond within 24-48 hours. Recipe questions might take a bit longer if we need to hop in the kitchen to troubleshoot!
Careers
Want to join our beautifully chaotic team? We’re always looking for passionate people who get excited about food. Check current openings at [email protected] — and yes, we actually read every application!
For Writers
Love writing about food? We’re always scouting for contributors who share our obsession with delicious, accessible recipes. Send your pitch to [email protected] with 2-3 published samples. Fair warning: we’re picky, but we’re also incredibly supportive of our contributor family!
Let’s Cook Something Beautiful Together
So welcome to my kitchen. Whether you’re here to master your first lasagna or spice up a tired routine with bold flavors, I’m here for you.
Let’s cook something beautiful together.
With love and spice,
RecipeHater Team