About me

Me in a nutshell: Career expat wife with almost 33 years living overseas (as an adult) under my belt. I love cooking and writing and writing about cooking.

Where I live now: Jersey, Channel Islands and Houston, Texas

My birthplace and where I call home-home: New Iberia, Louisiana. This is where I got my cooking “roots” because in New Iberia food trumps all. My grandmothers showed they loved us by cooking for us. We showed we loved them by eating it all. Over the years, I have learned to make their special dishes, but I still can’t match my paternal grandmother’s fried chicken.

My hometown by virtue of sheer years of presence and family still living there: Houston, Texas. Texas is big and bold and independent and proud. It teaches never give up, never give up, never give up. If you grow up in Houston, Texas, you can go anywhere with confidence. I'm proud to be part of the small blue dot that is Houston in the red state of Texas.

My immediate family: A lovely husband who is now retired, grills the best steak in town (wherever we live), brings flowers for no reason on occasion, whom I would follow anywhere till the ends of the earth. He is a project guy, always keeping busy.

Two extraordinary daughters, both talented and smart. The elder one graduated from Rhode Island School of Design in 2013 and her little sister graduated from RISD in 2015. They are beautiful, compassionate, passionate young women and I could not be more proud.

And last but not least, one silly Boxer named Beso. Because Boxers need B names. Sadly, I must update this to say that Beso has passed on. We miss him desperately every day but at 11 1/2 years old, he had a good long life of love and comfort. We are grateful for his memories. We have been getting our Boxer fix lately by fostering pups from Lone Star Boxer Rescue in Houston, Texas. If you are interesting in adopting a Boxer, I can highly recommend this organization and its volunteers.

My professional background: Degree in Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin. My career includes stints at the Girl Scouts of San Jacinto Council (Houston, TX), editor at an advertising agency and publisher, and public relations officer at InterContinental Hotels (Abu Dhabi, UAE.) As publications director, I edited the American Association of Malaysia’s monthly magazine for four years. I was also managing editor at Sunday Supper Movement and a copywriter for CGC Studios.

Why I've lived so many places: Both my father and husband worked in the oil industry and company transfers are common. We went where they sent us! I lived several years overseas as a child. And many, many more as a grownup.

How my children feel about the expat life: I get asked this question A LOT. Read this post for one answer. Her little sister feels the same.

Here are the places I’ve had a bedroom: Pointe-à-Pierre, Trinidad; Caracas, Venezuela; Houston, Texas; Houma, Louisiana; Negritos, Peru; Maracaibo, Venezuela; Jakarta, Indonesia; Austin, Texas; Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei; Singapore; Sydney, Australia; Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; Balikpapan, Indonesia; Paris, France; Macaé, Brazil; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Cairo, Egypt; Dubai, UAE and now I divide my time between Houston and Jersey in the Channel Islands. Some of these, more than once over the years!

Why Food Lust People Love? I’ve been asked more than a few times how I came up with my blog name. Right up there with food is my love of language. I’m kind of a word geek, with whole shelves on my bookcase devoted to books about the English language, its derivations, word etymologies, idioms and euphemisms. As devoted as I am to the correctly written word, I also like mixing things up. So, in Food Lust People Love, the nouns Food and People are actually used as adjectives, modifying the words Lust and Love. Too much grammar? Well, then, let's just say that my blog is called Food Lust People Love because we can Lust after fabulous Food but it’s People we should Love. And the best way to love them is just like my Cajun grandmothers did, by cooking for them.

If you'd like to learn more about my life overseas: Have a listen to this fun podcast from Food Blog Radio.

Something many people don’t know about me: I loved Harriet the Spy as a child. Not because she spied on people, but because she wrote notes and hypothesized on paper. Writing has always come naturally to me and Harriet’s looked like the perfect gig. Harriet’s saving grace at the end of the story, was becoming the editor of her school newspaper. What could be cooler than that?

“She found that when she didn't have a notebook it was hard for her to think. The thoughts came slowly, as though they had to squeeze through a tiny door to get to her, whereas when she wrote, they flowed out faster than she could put them down.” – Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh.

Exactly.

My blog design was created by my talented elder daughter, Victoria. She creates useful beauty at Occupant Fonts. Her website is here. She is happy to take commissions for hand lettering as time allows. The font on this blog is her second release, designed for text type, Embury.

Any questions? You can write me (Stacy Rushton) at foodlustpeoplelove [at] gmail [dot] com.





Thanks for stopping by!


Stacy