Hi there, I’m Allie!
Hi, I’m Allie, the recipe developer, writer, and cook behind Seasoned and Salted.
I grew up in a family that really knew food. My mom is an incredible cook and was such a force in the kitchen, and on my dad’s side, food was business and lifestyle all wrapped into one. My dad had a fish market that he inherited from my grandfather, and my dad’s uncle had a produce market, so I grew up understanding early that if you want your food to taste great, you start with what is fresh and what is worth spending your money on.
Some of my earliest memories are tied to that world. The canteen truck at the fish pier. The smell of salt air first thing in the morning. Seagulls. My dad’s fish clothes and boots. The sound of his keys hitting the countertop around 8:30 at night when he got home from a long day. Seafood was never some mysterious special-occasion ingredient in my life. It was familiar, respected, and just part of home.
My mom also signed me up for weekend cooking classes when I was in elementary school, which says a lot. Food was always around, and cooking always felt natural to me.
How Seasoned and Salted Began
During college, I dropped my meal plan so I could have my own kitchen from sophomore year on, and that is when things really took off. I loved following recipes from cookbooks and online, but I loved cooking by instinct even more, opening the fridge, trusting my palate, and making something delicious out of what I had. After I graduated, I met my now-husband, and once we moved in together, I really leaned into cooking at home.
That is really how Seasoned and Salted began. I would cook something, share it, and people would ask for the recipe. My husband, then my boyfriend, was one of the main reasons I started writing things down at all. He would ask me to make a dish again after I had made something especially good, and I would realize I had cooked it completely on the fly and could not replicate it exactly. So I started writing as I cooked, turning those off-the-cuff meals into recipes I could make again and eventually share here.
Why I Cook This Way
Today, my cooking is deeply shaped by my New England roots and my love of the sea. I have always lived near the water, and that absolutely shows up in the way I cook. I am always chasing a little bit of the sea in a dish, that salty, briny, fresh quality that makes food feel alive. It is one of the reasons I care so much about seafood and why I want people to feel more confident cooking it. Fresh seafood is one of the most delicious and versatile things you can bring into your kitchen, and it is often less intimidating and stays fresher longer than people think.
That perspective also shapes how I build recipes. I never want to compete with the seafood itself. I want to understand it first, then use other ingredients to support it and bring out its natural flavor. Sometimes that means pasta. Sometimes it means butter, lemon, herbs, or wine. But the seafood should still feel like the star.
Beyond seafood, I am also endlessly inspired by Italy, especially when it comes to pasta and ingredient-first cooking. I have been to Italy many times, and it is a place that has deeply shaped my palate and the way I think about flavor, simplicity, and what makes a meal feel special.
What I Hope You Find Here
At the table, what I love most is that moment right after everyone takes the first few bites. That brief silence when people are too busy eating to say much at all. To me, that is the best kind of compliment. I love feeding people, I love watching someone really savor a dish, and I love helping home cooks create that same feeling in their own kitchens.
Outside of food, I am pretty off the cuff, very genuine, and definitely more Type B than Type A. What you see is what you get. I love people, I love conversation, and I could talk to a brick wall if needed. I want my recipes to feel the same way: warm, approachable, trustworthy, and full of personality.
If you are here because you want to cook seafood with more confidence, make beautiful pasta, and bring a little coastal spirit into your kitchen, you are in the right place.
If you’d like to learn more about how I develop and test recipes, you can visit my recipe development page.
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