Welcome!

Hi, and thanks for visiting Calico Cocina!

My name is Alexandra and this is my little nook of the web to share my life and interests.  I'm 26, born and raised in North Carolina, where I still live with my husband, dog, cat, and 2 guinea pigs.

Cooking is a huge part of my life and something I'm very passionate about.  Some of my favorite possessions are my beloved cast iron pans- they get a lot of love and use! People have requested I share some of my recipes and techniques, so what better place than a blog?  I was a cheesemonger for a while so there may be an excessive amount of cheese related recipes, and occasionally cheesemaking.

My other passion is caring for my pets.  I walk dogs and care for animals as my job, and I LOVE it.  I have a YouTube channel dedicated to their care and probably bore my friends with how much I talk about them.

I also enjoy art and crafting!  I love to draw and lately have been getting into watercolor.  I have an Etsy shop where I sometimes sell paintings.  Recently, I have been trying to learn crochet- I'm still a beginner but it's a lot of fun!

I really dig video games, too!  Particularly Nintendo and PC gaming.  I have a Twitch channel on which I stream game play, mainly of The Binding of Isaac and retro Nintendo games.

Anyway, on to the babies!!

This angel wrapped in fur is Trixie (AKA Tracy, Sissy).  We adopted her when she was 5, and she turns 10 the day after Christmas.  She's a long haired Pembroke Welsh Corgi and she is an amazing dog- My first dog ever, too!  She's sassy and loves to be the center of attention.

This fatty catty is Miss Biscuits.  Yep, she's overweight- but really, we don't overfeed her!  And no, she doesn't actually eat pancakes. :)  We got her from the animal shelter when she was 4, and now she is 9.  She had been declawed front and back and so she is utterly helpless, not that she has a mean bone in her body anyway!  She's a daddy's girl and the inspiration for the name of my blog.  I just LOVE calicos.

These 2 perfect piggies are Diamond and Marmalade!  I'm mildly obsessed with them. I love how vocal they are- they squeal like crazy when they hear a veggie bag crinkle!  And they even have Halloween costumes.  Yep... obsessed...

And here's hubby and I!  I'll refer to my husband as "Pepe", my term of endearment for him.  We got married 8/8/15 and he's my best friend in the world.  He supports all my endeavors endlessly and deals with my clumsiness and occasional irresponsibility.  He's the best.

Anyway, sorry to ramble, I do that a lot!  Thanks again for visiting my blog! ^_^

-Alexandra