ABOUT ME
Hello! Welcome to my site. I started my site as a way to chronicle all of my cooking adventures. I grew up in Brooklyn, New York. In 2008, I packed my belongings and moved to the Midwest to study Economics and English at University of Michigan. I have stayed in the Midwest for the next thirteen years – attending college in Michigan, teaching high school in Illinois, and working in education policy in Ohio. New job opportunities in 2021 brought Kevin and I to Massachusetts. New York will always be my first home, but Massachusetts is my current home.
My passion for cooking began in my second year of college. I started living on my own and needed to learn to cook for myself. One dish led to another and I fell in love with cooking. Years later, I am still in the kitchen experimenting with new ingredients, flavors, and textures. There is no joy like the joy of creating a delicious meal from scratch. I believe good food should be shared, so I started capturing these creations on my site.
The food I cook is inspired by my Chinese American background, cities I’ve lived in, and places I’ve traveled to. Traveling is one of my favorite activities. Not only does traveling give me a new perspective on the world, it also allows me to experience some of the best foods in the places I visit. Some of my favorite dishes were inspired by the dishes I've tasted throughout my travels.
I hope you find inspiration as you browse through my site. If you enjoy a recipe from my site, leave me a comment. I would love to hear from you. Thank you for stopping by. Enjoy!
Check out some of my other adventures in the kitchen:
snacking on homemade pork dumplings
baking up assorted homemade bagels
recreating Chicago mix popcorn with a twist
making my mom’s version of savory tang yuan
welcoming Lunar New Year with fortune cookies
baking up lattice heart pies with mixed berry jam
When I’m not at work or spending countless hours cooking and baking in the kitchen, I’m usually learning new skills, snapping photos, traveling around the world, and writing about my experiences.
EVOLUTION OF COOKING
Thanksgiving 2016
This was the first Thanksgiving where I cooked from scratch. The menu consisted of roast chicken, green bean casserole, cheesy potatoes, biscuits and gravy, salad, berry spritzer, and apple pie. I mostly followed recipes, but cooking from scratch gave me the confidence to start developing recipes and cooking on my own.
Thanksgiving 2017
This was the second Thanksgiving where I cooked from scratch. The menu consisted of roast turkey, green bean casserole, cheesy potatoes, biscuits and gravy, roasted root vegetables, wings, cranberry sauce, salad, holiday punch, and apple pie. It included a hybrid of classic dishes and a few re-imagined dishes.
Thanksgiving 2018
This was my third Thanksgiving where I cooked from scratch. The menu consisted of roasted turkey, green bean casserole, cheesy hash browns, cheddar and bacon biscuits, garlic herb dressing, cranberry sauce, orange soy glazed carrots, salad, and lattice apple pie. Again, there was a balance of classic dishes and some hybrid re-imagined dishes.
Kevin and I celebrated Thanksgiving by ourselves. I spent the day preparing a roasted dry-brined turkey with pan gravy, green bean casserole, cheesy potatoes, sausage dressing, cranberry sauce, and a cheddar apple pie served with some caramel toffee ice cream. There was enough leftovers for a full week after Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving 2019
My parents and aunt joined Kevin and I for Thanksgiving this year. We cooked everything from scratch. The menu consisted of roasted turkey with pan gravy, green bean casserole, cheesy potatoes, sausage dressing, vegan biscuits and assorted rolls, cranberry sauce, salad, cookies, apple medley pie, and pumpkin pie.
My parents traveled up to Massachusetts to celebrate Thanksgiving with Kevin and I this year. Mom and I spent the day baking biscuits with mushroom gravy, preparing an apple cheddar pie, roasting up a whole turkey brined in an orange vegetable broth brine, and preparing our usual Thanksgiving sides.
Check out my food section for these recipes and more!
FAQs
How did you come up with the name for your blog?
All credits go to my husband, Kevin. He was genius enough to suggest I name my blog Cooking With The Pan. It started out as a joke, but the name stuck with me.
What is your background?
I am American born Chinese. My parents emigrated from southern China decades ago. I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. New York is where I spent the earlier years of my life.
What inspires your cooking?
I am inspired by the foods and smells all around me. I love watching cooking demonstrations, reading cookbooks, and flipping through magazines for inspiration. I like to try everything at least once. If something tastes delicious, I make notes of it, and try to create my own version. Some inspirations bloom into delightful creations. Other ideas get shelved for another day.
What are your favorite foods?
My absolute favorite foods are New York pizza, Yang Chow fried rice, dumplings, dragon roll, grilled shrimp over vermicelli, baked ziti, strawberry ice cream, Asiago cheese bagel, everything bagel with vegetable or scallion cream cheese, summer roll with peanut dipping sauce, cheese and caramel popcorn, most types of fruits and veggies, scones, smoothies, and pretty much all carbs.
Are there any foods you don’t like?
I like to give every food a chance, but for some reason, I just can’t stand eggplant.
What style of food do you cook?
I cook mostly foods inspired by my American and Chinese background. Sometimes I eat something unique from a restaurant and immediately want to recreate the flavors and aromas at home.
Where else can I find you?
You can find me sharing snapshots of homemade food, family and friends, travel adventures, and Midwest life on Instagram (@jiaxpan). I’ve also pinned all of my recipes on Pinterest (@jiaxpan).
FAMILY PHOTOS
Summer 2015: Chicago, Illinois
My family visited me one summer during the few years when I lived, worked, and attended grad school in Chicago.
Fall 2017: Ann Arbor, Michigan
Kevin and I posed in front of the cube during our engagement photo shoot at the college campus where we met.
Summer 2018: Queens, New York
We celebrated our wedding in Queens and took wedding photos at a park near the Whitestone Bridge. It had rained all week, but we were lucky the rain skipped our wedding day.
Summer 2018: Queens, New York
Our wedding reception took place in Flushing, Queens. We are so grateful to our family and friends for traveling from near and afar to celebrate our wedding with us.
See more of my travel adventures in the travel section!
CONTACT
Need to reach me? Drop me a note below.