About

Welcome!

I’m Mia Buchignani, please join me in my deep passion for food and cooking through my simple and delicious recipes. I am an American from Slovak, Chinese and Italian descent.  Since I was a child, I always wanted to cook.  I was glued to cooking channels instead of cartoons. My best birthday present from my parents was a spatula and whisk. 

I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and after a year abroad living in Belgium, I knew I needed to explore the world.  My career in architectural strategic planning took me to Doha, Qatar for 6 years to plan and oversee construction and operational readiness of Hamad International Airport.  When I wasn’t on the construction site in 135F degree heat, I spent my time singing with an amazing tango music quartet, Emocion – The Sounds of Tango, based in Qatar and throwing dinner parties for friends.  I traveled extensively from Qatar to countries such as Oman, Lebanon, Bahrain, Georgia, Seychelles, Turkey, Greece, Nepal, and Sri Lanka experiencing a culinary adventure in each country I’d visit.  

After 6 years in Qatar, I met the love of my life, Philip, also living and working in Qatar.  I followed Philip to Shanghai for his job, we got married and were soon after expecting a baby boy.  It was quite an experience eating and cooking in Shanghai. Being of Chinese heritage, every day was a learning experience in navigating and communicating in local markets and stalls and trying to piece together meals at home based on what I’d find! Needless to say, my Mandarin Chinese got pretty good fairly fast.  After a year in Shanghai, it was time to move back to the Bay Area to settle down and raise our family.

Apart from my love of cooking and entertaining, I am an avid skier and love spending as much time as possible with my family in snowy climates. My husband and I enjoy photography and try to capture as many memorable moments as we can of our rambunctious 5 year-old son, Massimo and lovable golden retriever, Fraggle. I love learning new languages and am fluent in French, conversational in Mandarin and can get by in a several more not to be mentioned here!

I always wanted life to lead me back to my passion for cooking and here I am, sharing my simple recipes with you.  My dishes are inspired by my heritage, my travels, my environment and my love of food.  I invite you into my kitchen to learn, taste and explore.