Hi, I’m Krista, welcome to Living on Cookies!
It all began when…
I grew up in Minnesota, USA, and moved to Austria in 1993. Learning Austrian ways, its culture and its language was a huge challenge for me. Baking a batch of chocolate chip cookies in my tiny studio apartment in Salzburg was the ultimate comfort back then.
But baking the cookies, brownies and cupcakes I loved from home involved hand-importing the key ingredients myself and figuring out which ingredients were equivalent to American ones.
One of my favorite things about living in Austria is that Austrians love baking and that the mid-afternoon cake and coffee are an institution.
Learning how to bake all the wonderful Austrian pastries was a matter of: 1. understanding German, 2. learning how to use metric measurements for ingredients, 3. using different ingredients than I’d ever worked with before and 4. dealing with the confounding instructions in Austrian recipes – recipes in which the exact amounts aren’t always indicated and the instructions read “combine ingredients and bake.”
But I persevered, and I’m still learning. Every recipe I conquer is a triumph.
Why I blog…
Everything I’ve painstakingly figured out is here on Living on Cookies. It brings me joy to inspire readers to try my recipes and to take some of the stress out of baking.
My page on Conversions & Substitutions is the heart of Living on Cookies and I refer to it often myself when I’m baking.
I make a point of writing my recipes in clear and concise step by step directions, often with photos, and sprinkled throughout with lots of explanations of ingredients and measurements.
Wondering where to start?
My all-time favorite recipes are: New York Cheesecake, Chocolate Chip Cookies and Salted Caramel Chocolate Cake.
My most popular recipes are: Austrian Topfen Dumplings, Cream Cheese Frosting and Perfect American Vanilla Cupcakes.
If you have anything you’d like to share with me or ask me, I’d love to hear from you! You can contact me here.
I had some dough, frozen spinach and fetta cheese and just wanted to refresh in my mind how to bake a spinach strudel. Googled spinach strudel, came to your website by chance, found your recipe unusually well written with just the tips I needed. Made the strudel, then looked where you live and oh how funny: I’m baking this spinach strudel in Graz, where I’ve been living for over 30 years! Thank you so much Krista and I wish you all the best! Andy
PS I decided to add a bit of nutmeg because Austrians seem to love using it every chance they get (though it’s probably not Greek and it may not go…)
Hi Andy! That’s why I started the blog – because recipes are often so confusing! I’m sure a little nutmeg made this strudel even better!
Hi Krista, It tasted really good – it’s a great recipe! My problem was not removing the water thoroughly enough from the frozen spinach. Now I know for the future, and I will buy some dill and try it with that. Great blog and recipes – I will come back to it. Thank you so much!
Hi
Thank you for your work in trying to help others. I am an American living in Ireland for over 28 years. This summer I am tasked with baking for my son’s wedding (Cake and dessert table) to a lovely girl from Vienna in Laxenburg (conference centre -Schloss). To say I’m finding it challenging is an understatement. I could really use guidance. I am a baker and own a small business in Dublin. Yankeebaker dot com.
Hi Sheryl, baking for a wedding is quite an undertaking! I wish I could give you tips on where to find guidance… if you need recipe ideas, I have plenty here on the website. 😊
So glad to have found your blog. My mom is from Salzburg. So I am always looking for Austrian recipes. Stumbled across some quark and am looking forward to trying the Topfenknoedl recipe. Herzlichen Dank!
My pleasure! I’d love to hear how your Topfenknödel turn out! 🙂
Great site, wonderful recipes, Krista! Jenny K has brought you to my/our attention and I am truly grateful. I am looking for somewhere to click your site as a ‘like’ but haven’t found it. I’ll keep trying 😊best wishes, Gabi (from IWA)
Hi Gabi! Thank you so much for your message, it made my day! Jenny is the best! If you want to “like” Living on Cookies, there are three things you can do: 1. You can like and follow Living on Cookies on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest if you’re on those. Just click on the icons here on the page and you will be taken directly to my social media accounts. 2. You can sign up for my newsletter (Coming soon! I’ll let you know!) 3. You can rate the recipes you like here by giving them 5-star ratings. I appreciate your feedback and support! Talk to you soon, Krista