Welcome to The Cook and the Writer!
Two avid eaters exploring the world.

We are Mary (“The Cook”) and Mike (“The Writer”). We have been partners in life and mischief for a long, long time. We created this site to share our love of good food, good stories, interesting places and memorable experiences. We’re happy you landed here, and hope you’ll come back from time to time.
We’re going to focus on quality content, not quantity of posts on our blog, so there may be some time between updates. Our goal is to make each one worth the wait. (You can also subscribe to the blog to get an email notice whenever we add a new post.)
Our inspiration for starting the blog was 1,000 Foods to Eat Before You Die , by Mimi Sheraton. We had no grand ambition of sampling all 1,000, but intended to try as many as we could, and then to tell you what we think about them. We’ve prepared some of the dishes at home and have written about the successes and the flops. Others we’ve tried in restaurants and reported on the taste, the presentation, the service, and the ambience.
We also write about good wines, spirits and beers that complement the foods…or that we just simply like.
The site has evolved over time and now, after almost 7 years, our focus has expanded to include writing about travel, life in a small Idaho town, the projects that keep us busy, and some of the interesting people we meet.
We’re always happy to hear your comments and suggestions.
Above all, we’re having some fun, and we hope you will, too.
Mary and Mike
The Cook and The Writer
