Meet and learn about Chef+Mom Christina Bailey

Meet Christina Bailey

Private Chef. Mom. Chef+Mom. Writer. Culinary Consultant.

Hi there and welcome to Edible Times! I’m Christina Bailey, a CIA graduate, Michelin-star restaurant alum, private chef and food blogger.

My Mission: Empowering you to cook

I believe that everyone and anyone can learn to cook delicious food!
In any kitchen.
On any budget.
With simple tools.
On the blog I don’t just share reliable recipes created with my professional experience, I also share the know-how.

Freedom from recipes

I want you to learn how to cook great meals without your eyes glued to a screen or piece of paper. So unlike other food blogs, Edible Times gives you not just recipes, but the tips, techniques and ratios that create deliciousness.

We are what we eat, truly

Your body is your temple, people! As with anything in life, you get out of it what you put in it.

If it wasn’t grown carefully on a farm, raised with respect, or minimally processed, I don’t cook with it and recommend you don’t either. On the blog I simplify healthful eating, grocery shopping on a budget, and separate food fact from fiction.

Honest food for all diets

In our family of four, we have gluten sensitivities, dairy intolerance, tree nut allergies (me!) and a keto diet lover (the Edible Times Husband). Somehow in the madness, I manage to cook (mostly) scratch-made meals we all enjoy together.

While we don’t live by one mantra, many of the recipes I share here work for a range of food philosophies and diets, including:

Dairy free
GAPS diet protocol
Gluten free
Grain free
Keto
Nut free
Paleo

In the kitchen with kids

Kids drive you crazy when you’re trying to cook? Put them to work! As young as three, my kids were making their own sandwiches. My oldest son began cooking us all breakfast… at the ripe ol’ age of 6!

As we go along here, I’ll share simple, impromptu ways to engage your kids in the kitchen. And also some fun food science and time-saving chef hacks. Because life’s too short to over-complicate dinner.

What I hope you gain

Confidence in cooking.
Joy in reading.
Fun food science.
Plenty of French Macarons – they’re gluten free!
The ability to nourish, nurture and heal you and your family with food.

For more on my culinary, musical theatre and television backgrounds, keep scrolling. Or get right to it and check out the blog here.

Cheers + be well,

My Culinary Career

As a career transition after working as a broadcast journalist, I graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York earning The Katharine Angell Academic Achievement Award.

At the CIA

I worked under food photographer Keith Ferris
Wrote articles for the food science department’s publications under Chris Loss, who now lectures at Cornell.
Spent a day cooking in the Bon Appéttit test kitchen
Self-published a book about my externship experience
Earned entry-level certification with the Court of Master Sommeliers

And baked A LOT of macarons. It was an action-packed two years.

Michelin-star experience

In pursuit of learning from the best, I earned an externship position in the kitchen at Thomas Keller’s flagship Bouchon Bistro in Yountville, California.

In addition to 12-hour days in the fast-paced kitchen, I photographed seasonal menu changes for the restaurant group’s corporate marketing. Prior to my time at the CIA, I served guests at the beloved California bakery SusieCakes, and worked for award-winning executive chef Chad Johnson at Sidebern’s in Tampa (now Haven).

As a private chef in Los Angeles, I served a range of clients – from young families in Encino to affluent celebrities in Malibu – with a Martha Stewart meets Thomas Keller style of service. Now based in Boise, Idaho, my culinary offerings are concentrated on delivering artisan cookies and hand-decorated cakes for special occasions. Or just because.

The dish on my food

I believe food is the best medicine, and moderation is the secret magic of longevity. At home and for my clients, I use fresh, in-season ingredients, no funny stuff you can’t pronounce and plenty of flavor. Too many food websites and bloggers use so-called “real ingredients” that promise to enhance health and foster low blood sugar, when they actually do the opposite.

Culinary Services

If you live in the Boise, Idaho area, you can learn more about current culinary offerings from Edible Times Culinary Services here. Yes, there can be cake delivered to your doorstep.

Before and after the food biz

Musical theater + television

I grew up on dancing on many a stage, and after graduating from Florida State University with a media degree and unofficial minor in dance, I performed professionally. I sang and danced in live shows at Disneyland’s Fantasyland Theatre, played the Witch’s Mother in the original Chicago cast of the hit musical Wicked, and appeared in various industrial shows and national television commercials.

Broadcast news

When the journalism bug bit, I put my media degree to use covering the news for Fox 4 in Southwest Florida. Often reporting live during the same newscast I produced, my time at Fox 4 was no joke. Our class act news director, Forest Carr, instilled in me a constant quest for the truth. And a need to protect the vulnerable while holding the powerful accountable. Or at least tell it like it is, no bias.

Here and now

While the focus of my career is now clearly all things food, on occasion I am called to create digital and television media, sometimes with my Emmy-nominated Husband. I happily oblige, as most recently it required travel sans kids. Along with cool cars, amazing costumes and The Tennis Hall of Fame. Follow the link above for a fun short story on the spunky 1920’s tennis star Suzanne Lenglen. And subscribe to Tennis Channel if you love the game, and want the best coverage of professional tennis available (I won’t pretend not to be bias this one instant).

The Nutrition Mission

The journey for truth and holding the powerful accountable will continue here in my Nutrition Mission series (coming soon!). Hype and misleading headlines often muddy the proverbial waters when it comes to the question of what to eat. So do government policy and politics. With a few tools in my belt, including a couple certified nutritionist friends, I’ll cut through the bull and serve up the truth in food news and policy.