Thank you for visiting my food blog! My name is Meredith Santora, the name behind “In the Kitchen with Mare”, and I am a passionate Greek- American who loves creating recipes. My hopes for this food blog are to share my love for food and cooking with everyone.

My passion for food started when I was younger. I can remember gathering different ingredients in the kitchen trying to make salad dressing for the first time. The concoction I came up with did not taste like salad dressing according to my dad. After that, my dad taught me what ingredients go together when making salad dressing. From that point on, after making a variety of salad dressings, I was eager to learn more. My dad taught me how to make marinades for chicken, steak, fish, etc… He saw my desire and passion that I had for cooking. Eventually my dad took me to my first cooking class. The cooking class was called Let’s Talk Turkey at the New School in Manhattan. This was a special cooking class that I will always remember. I knew after taking my first cooking class that I wanted to learn more. In total, I have taken ten cooking classes and gained a lot of useful tips and tricks over the years.

I would like to dedicate In the Kitchen with Mare to two very special men in my life. The first being my dad, who has taught me so much about cooking. There are so many special times we have shared in the kitchen, from cooking Christmas dinner, or barbecues for company, to just a regular Sunday evening making dinner. Had it not been for him teaching me how to prepare certain dishes and go out of my comfort zone to make new ones, I would not know my way around the kitchen. The second being My husband, who is my partner- in-crime in the kitchen. He has encouraged me to pursue my dream of creating my very own food blog. Cooking together has always been a special bond that we share. Everything that I’ve learned over the years from cooking in the kitchen with my dad, through all the cooking classes and everything in between, I have cultivated throughout my blog.