Mormon Mavens in the Kitchen: About the Mavens

Mormon Mavens in the Kitchen was born out of a desire to share our best recipes.

We are Mormon women, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who are eager to share our tasty morsels--both temporal and spiritual.

We hope that you enjoy our recipes!

Mormon Mavens
(past and present)

(more bios coming soon)

Julie--After wanting to jump into the recipe blogging world for quite some time, Julie founded Mormon Mavens in the summer of 2011. She had great fun planning and carrying out the Kickoff Party for the Mavens who lived nearby. Julie has a B.S. in Family Science from Brigham Young University (where she met her husband). When she's not updating the Mormon Mavens Facebook page, posting a new recipe, or snapping food pics, Julie can be found participating in any combination of the following activities: homeschooling, reading, milking goats, gardening, feeding chickens and ducks, eating Nutella, cooking, preparing Relief Society activities, learning new self-reliance skills, working on websites, etc. She and her husband have been married since 1991 and have five children, two dogs, two parakeets, two orange-cheeked finches, six goats, fourteen ducks, and twenty chickens (so far). This motley crew lives on a seven-acre farm in Eastern North Carolina.

Anna--Arguably the oldest of our Mavens, Anna hails from Mocksville, North Carolina, but has lived in El Paso, TX (where her love of Mexican food finally got a home and she learned to make salsa & chile rellenos); other cities in NC--Wilson, Winterville, Raleigh, Greensboro; Anderson, SC; and Falls Church, VA. Is that enough for now? She graduated from Brigham Young University in 1980 with a B.S. in Home & Family Development. She is the mother of two daughters, grandmother of two boys. She and her husband, Mike, are almost-empty-nesters and he is glad she is a part of this blog so that she will still cook--at least once every two weeks for her post! Haha, she says, but this blog has rekindled her desire to get to know her kitchen more intimately and to cook at home on a more consistent basis. She works part time for her local arts council, serves on the local SmartStart board, and as a board member for Power of Moms, a website dedicated to deliberate motherhood. Find out more at www.powerofmoms.com. Anna currently serves as Young Women president in her local ward.

Kara--Good food and conversation are the things that keep Kara ticking. When she goes to a party she comes home and talks about THE FOOD they served. She loves to cook! She also likes to keep it simple. Most fancy food doesn't hit the spot, but a home-cooked meal? NOW we're talkin'! Especially when it involves dessert--CHOCOLATE dessert. Mr. Blue Eyes (the hubs) and their kids are the joy of her life. They like to be outdoors: Frisbee, bikes, catch, hiking, and camping are their favorite things to do as a family, and Kara also likes to take a good book with her wherever she goes. Her favorite scripture is 3 Nephi 13: 31 - 34, and her favorite hymn is The Spirit of God.

Becca ("Super B")--Becca was born in Utah, and grew up in Idaho, Oregon and Alaska. She got married and lived in Florida for ten years, and currently lives in Kimberly, Idaho with her stellar husband and three adorable munchkins. She loves the outdoors, water birth, playing sports, singing, and cooking. Becca's favorite thing is sharing good food with friends and family and dreams of owning a home on some land to grow a big garden, raise animals and homeschool her kids.

Jennifer ("Jen and Alec")--Jennifer is a mom of 3 living in Lehi, Utah. They spent the previous 5 years in Gilbert, AZ, where she had some great foodie friends and picked up a few of their tips and recipes. She works part-time nights as an RN, loves cooking, great literature, repurposing furniture, exercising, and spending time with family and friends (by the way, she and Audrey are sisters).

Niki--Niki's favorite recipe is the next one she tries that works and tastes great! She likes having "aha!" Moments in the kitchen, figuring out what tastes good together and how to make a recipe fit the tastes and needs of her family. Niki and her husband have been married for 19 years. They have 4 children, ranging in age from 6 -15 years old; they love the beach and love to have fun together as a family.

Melissa--Melissa is the proud mom of 5 teenagers, and has spent a LOT of time cooking to feed their never ending hunger! She is known for her delicious homemade bread, dinner rolls and cinnamon rolls, but loves all kinds of cooking, including baking cakes and muffins, crock pot meals, and anything quick and easy to feed hungry kids. She has a lot of experience cooking with whole wheat and other whole grains, and using food storage items (like dehydrated and freeze dried products) in her everyday cooking. She was also the camp cook for a church Girls Camp for 5 years, where she kept 150 girls and leaders happily fed for a week. Melissa loves gardening, canning her produce, raising chickens, photography, camping, hiking, and homeschooling her children. She hopes you enjoy her practical and simple recipes!

Audrey--Audrey is a stay at home mom of 3 beautiful children and she LOVES it! She is always looking for ways to get healthy food into her kids so she almost always cooks from scratch. She really enjoys cooking (but doesn't like to clean up afterwards), reading, crocheting, and spending time with her family. She grew up in Utah and is now living in North Carolina where her husband works as an RN.