About

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Hi. My name is Pauline Rhoads and I am the author of The Better Crumb. I have been obsessed with food, pretty much my whole life. My mother, being the best cook in the world, forcibly piled food onto our plates ordering “eat! eat!” As a result, I ate more than was humanly possible.

I went on to earn a Pastry and Baking Arts degree from the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City, and then did an internship at Gramercy Tavern. On the last day of my internship, as I was mixing an enormous bowl of their famous muffin batter by hand (the bowl was so big and the batter so thick, you could not use a spoon), I somehow managed to tip the bowl over, hitting myself on the head with such force I practically lost consciousness and had to leave early. My boss just shook her head, and I realized working in a restaurant kitchen was probably not for me.

I decided to finally put my English degree to use, and got a job working as Food Writer and Assistant Editor at Greenwich Magazine in Connecticut for a few years. I loved writing, but I wanted to write and cook.

It only seemed natural to create a food and recipe blog. Luckily, I have the scariest, toughest group of food critics right here at my disposal – my family. If I don’t get a unanimous “this is the best blank I have ever had!” or “oh my God, this is SOOOOO good!” the recipe goes right in the trash. When my family is not eating food, we are thinking, talking and reading about food. We are testing and perfecting recipes all the time. Our idea of fun is to hold blindfolded taste tests. Every weekend we make bagels, bread and wood fired pizza in our back yard pizza oven. We even made our own wine. In Rome, we went to every gelato store in the city to determine which was the best, which meant eating gelato three times a day. You get the picture.

But you know what really excites me? Coming up with a recipe that’s incredibly good, but took very little effort. I’m lazy. There, I said it. I’d rather be on the sofa drinking coffee and reading a book than slaving away over a complicated meal, no matter how good. If you’re like me you want good food, you just don’t want to work hard for it. You’re not going to get a long list of ingredients from this girl! And I promise to never assume that you have an hour or more to prepare a meal. I certainly don’t.

The Better Crumb is a collection of great recipes that I make for my own family over and over again. What you see on this site is what I’m cooking at home. The recipes for the most part are healthy, quick and easy without sacrificing flavor, and they have all gotten rave reviews from family and friends. And the desserts? Well, let’s just say I am the biggest dessert snob there ever was, so if I post a dessert recipe you can count on it being out of this world!

I could keep these amazing recipes all to myself… or I could share them and make the world a tastier place. I decided to be “The Better Crumb.” Besides, if there’s one thing my mother taught me, it’s how to be generous.

I hope you like these recipes as much as my family and I do. Beware though: Your family is going to become very spoiled… and you may just have time to sit on the sofa and read a book while sipping tea.

Thanks for reading!
Pauline

Pauline Rhoads was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. She now lives in New York City.