I’m Astrid Tuttle Winegar: recipe wrangler, moderately tortured writer, and non-professional photographer at large. I’ve spent the last few years creating fantastic comfort food in the Land of Enchantment. Sometimes I drop the maiden middle name. I was born in New York in 1962 and moved to New Mexico in 1968. Since I was only six years old then, I consider myself a native New Mexican. After graduate school at the University of New Mexico, I wrote a charming cookbook called Astrid’s Modern Hobbit Recipes. This book became known online as A Hobbit’s Cookbook: Eleventy-One Sweets, Snacks, and Savories Inspired by Middle-earth. Legal issues led me to rewrite this cookbook and to publish it (eventually) on the Kindle. Then, lo and behold, I found an actual publisher! Please check out the ALL OF MY COOKBOOKS and KINDLE COOKBOOKS sections listed above for more information and links to where you may purchase my books.
I live in Albuquerque, which makes me, specifically, a Burqueña. Bugs Bunny kept taking wrong turns here, but in general, the city below the Watermelon Mountains (a.k.a. the lovely Sandia Mountains) is easy to navigate. We have a wide range of cultural events/activities, lots of fabulous food, sophisticated and award-winning breweries, and excellent vineyards.
As I said above, I’m a graduate of UNM, with a BA in English with a minor in Latin (2002) and an MA in Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies (2008). I concentrated on the works of J. R. R. Tolkien as much as possible. Here is a link to a paper I wrote: “Aspects of Orientalism in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings”. I taught Latin at UNM for four years. Much of my Latin has become rusty, though I still have a tendency to conjugate verbs on my morning walks. Cooking, baking, eating, drinking, and then DIETING are primary interests; I also sometimes dabble in gardening, crafting, and gaming just a bit. Books, movies, and television are enough of an obsession for me that they deserve their own page, which you can examine at your leisure (see My Media Obsessions).
Other than that, who am I?
I’m a wife to a man named Bob, who will only consent to being represented here by a South Park avatar.
I’m a mother to two adult daughters, Chloë & Callista, though in the photo they are still small and sweet.
I’m also a grandmother, but I’m not going to post any cute grandchildren photos here; sorry.
And I guess that’s about it, for now.
Formal Portraiture by Kate Livingston. See her work at Kate the Photographer!