Last updated on March 27th, 2018 at 02:58 pm
Hey there! I’m Joanna Cismaru, Jo for short, and I am the brains behind my food blog Jo Cooks. I’m a writer, photographer, cookbook author and most importantly, I’m the cook that prepares all these scrumptious recipes that you can find here. My husband Remo, is the other force behind this blog. He’s the taste tester, IT genius, accountant extraordinaire and last but not least, my biggest supporter and pillar of strength.
We also have a new pup, a Blue Merle Australian Shepherd and his name is Indiana Jones. He’s the cutest dog alive, yes I know I’m biased, and he’s super active and keeps us laughing all day long. Many times you’ll see me share pictures of him and his shenanigans. I also have a personal assistant, Nicole who is amazing and loves food as much as I do. Together we make up the Jo Cooks team.
As long as I can remember I’ve always loved to cook and putz around in the kitchen. I’m seriously passionate about food and I do consider myself a foodie! I love all food and I will always try everything at least once, well maybe except bugs. I won’t try bugs and cats or dogs! But everything else goes.
I am totally self-taught and have no formal culinary training but I have been cooking for over 20 years. I’ve learned from my mistakes because there have been mess-ups in the kitchen, but I think that’s what makes us stronger and better at what we do. I love Julia Child’s style of cooking but I love to simplify meals, so that they are more attainable for the everyday cook.
MY PREVIOUS CAREER
In my previous career, I worked in the IT world doing software development, and while I enjoyed it, it was quite stressful. To relieve some of that stress, I always turned to cooking and baking, thus discovering my latest passion, and so this new “so-called” career evolved.
Lemon Chicken Piccata – a simple yet super impressive chicken piccata in a tasty lemon, butter and capers sauce. Perfect with pasta for a quick and delicious dinner.
WHAT THE BLOG IS ABOUT
People ask me all the time, what sort of food I cook and blog about. The truth is, everything. I cook anything and everything, and well, we eat everything, and if my husband and I can’t eat everything, there are plenty of friends, family or neighbors who love to help us out. I, most of all, love simple recipes with few everyday ingredients that you can either find in your pantry, or are easy to find at your local grocery store.
I am totally self-taught when it comes to cooking, though I have to thank my mom for teaching me the basics. I must say that I enjoy baking more than cooking so you will find quite a few baking recipes here. While I’m not a fancy baker I do love my breads and rolls and the occasional cake or pastry.
I was born in Romania, Transylvania to be exact. My family moved here when I was just a child. While I can honestly say I’ve never met a vampire, I do love my garlic. Here you will also find some of my favorite Romanian recipes that have been passed down to me from my mom and mother in law.
MY COOKBOOK
If you love my recipes and would like more of my creations, you can find my cookbook 30 Minute One Pot Meals available to order.
You can order my “30-Minute One-Pot Meals” book at:
Thank you, Jo for the excellent recipes, cogent and well-thought out website, and the limited, unobtrusive advertising. Excellent from top to bottom.
Thank you!
My beautiful daughter sent me your website. The bacon corn dip recipe sounds amazing. I am also looking for recipes for one.
Hello just found your website today and thank you…you have some nice recipes here…regards from Cyprus. Eleni
Thanks Eleni!
Just found your site today. Copied the recipe for Mongolian Beef as it looked so delicious as do so many other recipes. I am an animal lover and your dog, Indiana Jones is gorgeous. Looking forward to following you Jo. Best of luck to you. Kathy
Indiana is the sweetest boy, he’s always the brightest part of our day 🙂 Thank you for following!
Multumesc pentru retete! Esti extraordinara!
Este placerea mea! 🙂
Jo:
I’m a single dad of two girls and everything that I’ve made from your recipes has been a big hit. THANK YOU!
Have you considered a subscription based service with features for members to save their favorites? …I’d certainly join
In the meantime, you remain my go to place for meal ideas.
Cheers
David
I haven’t, but something to think about. Happy you’re enjoying my recipes. 🙂
This is a great big “hats off” to David, the single dad who COOKS for his kids!! You are remarkable. Best of luck to you and your girls.
Now, for you, Miss Joanna — I am so impressed with your recipes. I’m actually excited about cooking again. I’m so tired of trying recipes that take forever to prepare and cook, only to be disappointed with the end product. So many of your recipes really look yummy! Can’t wait to try the Magic Cake. So simple yet, so delicious looking. Thank you.
Oooh….just scrolled down and saw Erik’s post about the braised pork in sweet soy sauce. Yum, I’m trying this!!!
Thanks Donna! Let me know how you like the recipes, as you try them! Good luck!
Hi, Jo
I found your Braised Pork in Sweet Soy Sauce recipe with a google search. I had just made a spicy green ginger sauce the previous night to ladle over some garlic soy poached chicken breasts, and had some left over, but nothing to put it on. i knew i had some costco pork rump roasts in the freezer and that the sauce needed some sweet to balance it. then, you came along, with your recipe so simple and quick, i could hardly resist! I like how you say to trust the recipe about how much liquid is in it while it simmers down, cause it was a LOT! lol (was thinking corn starch slurry!) anyway, tested quite a few “test” chunks before serving it to my wife, and it was STUNNINGLY delicious. your recipe will now be a staple in my notebook, and we thank you for it. My wife, who is also more than chef-level in the kitchen, was extremely impressed. i simply prepped some baby bok choy, laid it over the pork right at the end of the simmer, put the lid on, and went to pick her up from work. Got back, ladled it over some jasmine rice, and applied the green ginger sauce, scallions, basil, and a couple sprigs of cilantro, and the rest was ecstatic! Thank you again, and i cant wait to try more of your “good stuff”!
That’s wonderful to hear Erik. Sounds like you guys ate like champions! 🙂