I'm so glad you're here. Welcome. My name is Kelly and I've recently decided to start a personal blog to help me get my recipes in order. I thought I'd like to share the stories behind a lot of what I make around here. I like all kinds of food but my husband and three kids don't. It can be a challenge sometimes. What's important to me is that we all come to the table and eat together. It's almost always homemade, from scratch, and made with fresh, honest ingredients. I'm not into heavily processed things but sometimes I will look the other way and make a small exception.
My three daughters are all starting to venture out on their own. My oldest is making her way post-college in New York City. My middle daughter is in college and my baby will be joining her this fall. They are all beginning to show some interest in cooking and my hope is this blog will be a cookbook for them, a place for them to find and learn how to make all their favorites and more. My dad and his mom were great old-world cooks who didn't write anything down, no recipes. Luckily, I learned a few things but much is lost, just my memories. I want my cooking and family recipes to keep going with my children and I hope you find recipes here to inspire you.
I get a lot of what I make from my recipe drawer, which is kind of amazing given the complete mess you'll find when opening that drawer. I have a ton of clippings, printed out pages, handwritten notes, recipes from my family and friends, and the most frequently used recipes are all stained and ripped from use. It is a feat for me to find what I'm looking for but I always seem to manage to find it. Hopefully this blog will get it organized.
So how did I name this site. Well, it was hard as everything I came up with was taken. I kept going back to something with bluebird. I live in the woods outside of St. Louis in the start of the northern part of the Ozarks. It is beautiful here. It's like living in a treehouse in a national park. We have lots of wildlife and yes, bluebirds. I love watching them nest and you'll often find me staring out my kitchen window watching them. So that's the inspiration for the name. I always have hungry mouths to feed too! And soon we will be official empty nesters. Oh no.
And one more thing. I have to be the most tech challenged person in the world. I am late to the party on everything, I just got my first smartphone. My husband and kids lose all patience with me when I am on the computer. This will definitely be a work in progress.
If you want to get in touch with me, you can leave a comment or email me at kelly [at] thehungrybluebird [dot] com. I just need to figure out how to check it.
Thanks for stopping by.
Kelly
Ashley
Sunday 16th of March 2025
Just ran across your site and wow, this takes me back to big meals with my extended family in Kansas City. I’m bookmarking this and will definitely try some of your recipes!
Janet
Thursday 19th of December 2024
Can you mix the cornbread soufflé a day ahead and bake it the next day?
Kelly Wildenhaus
Saturday 21st of December 2024
Yes. I would pour the batter into the casserole dish and cover it tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Bring it close to room temp the next day (30 minutes or so on the counter) and then bake, it may take a little longer depending on how cold it is.
Kathi
Monday 9th of September 2024
Here’s a compliment from the one who stopped eating beef sometime in the 70’s. Your easy pot roast with garlic was delicious!! I made it with 2 pounds of chuck and used two 14,9 ounce cans of petite diced tomatoes. My garlic head had six large cloves because I had started using it earlier Oh my! Such a winner! Thanks!!
Jennielee Lew
Saturday 4th of May 2024
OMG you are absolutely something quite special as for me I'm 67 years old and my favorite all-time comfort food was mac and cheese and tonight I made your recipe and followed it and it was the best macaroni and cheese I have ever tasted I will never make it any other way and I subscribe to you and I want to know all about you and I want to follow you because that was the most amazing taste in my mouth ever thank you. I do look forward to learning some of your recipes and trying them out but you've got me I you got me hooked so keep up the good work you're fabulous also I wanted to tell you that when I raised my kids I had four children three girls and a boy I always insisted on us sharing dinner together and I I too made my food from scratch with love and I got so much joy out of watching my family eat and like the food that I made and it's something that's really missing from families these days is that meal time special time to spend with your family. My children resisted at times about dinner but now that they're all grown adults they understand and they see the importance of it
Marilyn
Saturday 27th of April 2024
You made me laugh about being tech challenged. I consider myself to be tech ignorant. My question is, do you put the lid back on after adding the bread and seasonings, or do you leave the lid off? I am thinking that you probably put the lid back on, but I wanted to be sure. We always have a spinach casserole at Christmas and this recipe sounds delicious.