About

Hi! I’m Paula. I’m so glad you’re here!

I started How To Make Dinner because I think dinnertime is the best part of the day. I love making it, I love eating it, and I love the unwinding that comes with it. Also, it’s been my lifelong dream to have my own cooking show. Seriously, like since I was nine years old.

I want to help take the stress out of dinnertime. I’m giving you all my best tips and advice for making better dinners with less fuss.

My Story:a proud bread baker holding a loaf of bread baked in a Dutch oven.

Since finishing culinary school in 2005, I have cooked in luxury hotel kitchens, high-volume catering companies, tiny cafes, a tree planting camp, and a 92-foot sailboat running ecotourism trips from B.C. to Alaska. I’ve spent over a decade working in professional kitchens all over British Columbia as well as a very memorable couple of years at a farm shop in rural Scotland.

I have cooked in a lot of really quirky environments and fed a LOT of people over the years. I also studied holistic nutrition at the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition in Vancouver.

My Approach:

I don’t believe in ‘good’ or ‘bad’ foods. I want it all.

I’m addicted to ketchup, I FREAKING LOVE frozen potato patties, and nothing makes me happier than a can of baked beans on toast. I’m not afraid of a little convenience food here and there, but at the core of it all, I am geared towards buying basic, high-quality ingredients and making things mostly from scratch. I eat what I want, not what I think I should eat. Luckily those two things usually overlap.

Although I don’t endorse rushing the dinner-making process because that makes it feel like a chore, I am 100% in support of simplicity. Through my past experiences, I have learned a TON of tricks, shortcuts, and stress-reducing strategies that can be game-changing for the way we cook at home.

Let’s make dinner!

-Paula