My dear reader, please accept my apologies for my absence. It was not intentional to allow this space to fall to the side. I’m afraid my absence has gone on long enough and now the idea of approaching it again results in a little shame spiral that holds me frozen… but I am trying.
Since I was here last I went into “monk mode” and intentionally set aside time for my personal growth and development. More on that later but I just wanted to stop by to brush the dust off this thing and say hello. Rip the band-aid off my shame spiral. Thanks for sticking around. I have a lot bubbling in my life in many different ways but for now, I want to reintroduce myself to any new folks here.
My name is Amelia Rampe. I started my culinary career working in NYC fine dining and have been working in food media since 2015 when I got my first test kitchen job at Bon Appetit Magazine. Click here to visit my website to see some of my work. I have hundreds of published recipes and bylines in publications such as Bon Appetit, Food52, Food & Wine, thekitchn.com, and many more. I am a freelance food editor, recipe developer, and food and travel writer. I am also an astrologer and a certified yoga instructor!
In addition to my work world, I have been married for almost 15 years, we have two children, one is an adult at 24 years old and the other is tweening out at 12. My oldest is in grad school and lives in Connecticut and the rest of us live in Brooklyn, NY. In 2021, my husband was diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL). So we basically live with a ticking time bomb. It is possible that some day between the next 2 - 30 years, Jason’s cancer could progress. My family life is very important to me, especially now as my youngest is in the midst of pivotal changes in their life and we have this dark cancer cloud looming over us.
In addition to career and family, I navigate a moderate form of Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, (MCAS) an immunological disorder that manifests for me as chronic pain, inflammation, food, and environmental allergies. I am allergic to a great many common things, like soy, green tea, mushrooms and so much more. It’s an invisible disease and I am likely in pain more often than you would probably assume. I know I am not alone when it comes to food allergies and invisible diseases. I also happen to be in menopause. Which is wild because in my mind I am far too young for that but also here it is. Things really shifted when my body started to change. As a result, I needed to dramatically shift to meet the transformation my body was making. I created a new physical practice for myself in yoga and was amazed by the many benefits that came along with it. Less than 2 years later, I chose to take my yoga teacher training.
These invisible diseases make it difficult for me to authentically share myself and my experiences. In a world where social media demands that we show our best most beautiful and successful selves, nobody wants to be a downer. What if sometimes the reality isn’t all the shiny happy things we manufacture for consumption and to be favorably judged?
All this to say is that life is busy and I have been getting the sense that all the little streams of my life are somehow going to intersect and connect here in this space. I always want to share recipes and dining and I also want to have a space that is removed from the clutches of social media outlets like Instagram and be more transparent about the things that are happening behind the scenes. I have lots of recipes in the works, travel and dining recommendations to share, and helpful tips for anyone like me, with invisible diseases, cancer, and children. This is how we cope, this is how we rise above, and maybe this is also how we fall apart.
We’re so glad to have you back!!!
So proud of my mommy💞💞