Who & what exactly is So Damn Delish?

So Damn Delish is a food website/blog that focuses on recipes and kitchen/cooking tips for the everyday person.

Our thoughts on food is that it should be:

Easy
Cost-effective/budget-friendly
Flavorful (bold), &
DELICIOUS

Around these parts, you will only find recipes that are DELISH and made with ingredients you know, ’cause let’s be real here- who has the time, energy, or money to create time-consuming meals with 47,672 ingredients, of which 47,600 happen to be ingredients you’ve never even heard of, that most likely cost one million dollars a meal to make. Amiright?

So, who’s behind all of this?

That’s me, Jen!

I’m a bit of a southern & sun girl at heart (with maybe a hint of kitchen gangsta in her- ha!). I was born and raised on the Treasure Coast of Florida. My hubs Dez and I have 4 kiddos. We enjoy family dates, cocktails and backyard BBQ’s with family/friends, food, fishing, and salt water (aka the ocean)…#salttherapy.

I’ve always loved to cook and develop recipes (AKA make up recipes as I go- kitchen gangsta style) ever since I can remember. Cooking for everyone in my inner circle has always been my thing.

The sexy dude in the photo with me is the hubs Destin (but we call him Dez). He’s in charge of taste-testing, eating, and pretty much hanging out with me in the kitchen. Tough life? I agree. For his “normal” job (it really is tough- especially in the Florida heat) he does man things like construction. It’s an added bonus that he’s cute and I like him. A lot.

Inspiration and Love of Cooking

My love of everything-food comes from my childhood. I was always watching and helping my mom in the kitchen. That amazing lady (my mamma) worked full-time+, with 6 kids (HELLO budget!), and was still able to put homemade (from scratch) recipes on our table every dang night.

Now that’s what I call a kitchen rockstar.

She was a travel agent most of her life, so back in the day (when travel agents got perks), we received free vacations (cruises, baby!). I have been on a total of 27. We mainly went to the Eastern and Western Caribbean, and Mexico. I ‘m pretty sure that’s where my love of ethnic food (especially real Mexican) and seafood comes from.

More About Us

We love hangin’ out with our family & friends, cooking, and making memories. We absolutely love going fishing with the kids (and usually drag along my girlfriends and their kiddos). They love it! 🙂

Dez and I actually met at our local dive bar that I absolutely love- The Stamp. From the moment we saw each other we knew there was something there.

I was actually on a date when I met him at The Stamp. Haha! We went back to my date’s house and played pool. When we went outside we talked and exchanged numbers, and well, that was that! Pretty groovy, huh?

Fast forward to August 29, 2020 and we finally tied the knot in a small, fun, and kid-friendly ceremony in our back yard. It was nothing short of simply amazing!

I was born and raised in Florida. Dez is an American citizen, but he was actually born in Hong Kong! Cool, right? After college I moved to South Carolina and Virginia, before returning to Florida in 2015. In South Carolina I actually had a farm- complete with chickens, ducks, goats (that I milked twice a day), and we grew our own food. While farming I started a homesteading blog. Upon returning to Florida, I retired the homesteading blog, and starting So Damn Delish- a food blog.

So, here we are!

Drop me an email to say hi here! I always respond to questions and comments!

P.S. We do a series here called life currently. It’s our once a month series chatting about (and of course showing you tons of pics) what is happening behind the scenes/in our personal life. Read them all and start from the beginning here!

This site is dedicated to my mom Tracy Nanette Topper-Smith (8-15-61 to 5-16-12).
The classy lady who taught me everything I know in the kitchen. #cancersucks