Ms. Duncker Karin
Karin Duncker is an under-employed executive who lives in the West Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, writes the blog cookinginmyheels.wordpress.com, and cooks up a storm in her 'modest' (being polite here) kitchen. Her command of the kitchen and securing fabulous shoes (at discount) are legendary, well, at least in her circle of hungry and shoeaholic friends. Falling into the "living for food" population is pretty much genetic for me. Oma was a classically trained cook. Mom learned from the master and added to that base with the talent to whip up loaves and fishes out of pretty much anything available, bake kitty-cat cakes, and create roses from radishes and penguins from hard-boiled eggs, olives and carrots. And just like any good apprentice, I took what I learned from this lineage and added to it. I was also born with food memory. As a toddler when told, "we are going to Tante Gertrude, I'd reply, "that's where we had cherry pie! I was 4, it was destiny. So that's the cooking part, but the heels? I've been many things: biology teacher, corporate trainer, Bitch Queen of Biotech (ran a biotech non-profit), consultant, and unemployed. And through this seemingly unrelated string of careers was one common denominator shoes. Regardless of budget or dress size, this gal loves her some shoes! So what does a food driven underemployed gal DO with all those fabulous shoes? Wear them in the kitchen! All that fine Italian leather gets lonely, and as a pick me up on a blue day there's nothing better. Voila! Cooking in my heels was born!
Read More »
...
- Page Views
- 391
- Content
- 30
- Fans
- 0
- Contributor since
- 8/27/2011
Motto
Cinderella is proof that a pair of shoes can change your life!Affiliations
Karin DunckerFavorites
None yet.Fans
None yet.Featured Content (1 of 1)
1
Displaying Results 1 - 30 (of 30) for All Content
-
OK, I'm a Drag QueenThere’s no denying it. I’m a Drag Queen. I think I’ve been one most of my life. It’s not just because of my encyclopedic knowledge of movie musicals or fond appreciation of kitsch and camp.
-
The Thanksgiving ListAh, Thanksgiving. That wonderful start to the holiday season that brings friends and family together in gratitude and affection, and with family comes a matched set of emotional luggage, amplifying the crazy around your bountiful table.
-
Moose MuffinsWhen my niece and nephew were little they had a book titled “If you give a Moose a Muffin”. The premise, if you give a moose a muffin, he'll want jam so you have to make that too, and on and on. I seem to spend a lot of time making moose muffins.
-
Hiking the High RoadI learned pretty early on that it’s always better to take the high road. Unfortunately, getting there can feel like climbing Everest, especially when you are blue and fantasies of verbally eviscerating someone peek around the corners of your brain.
-
The Mental Temper TantrumDo you ever have one of those days when all you want to do is scream? Loudly?? I had one the other day. It started out ok, but as the hours passed, the feeling started to build more and more. I know you’ve been there too.
-
Confessions of a Cooking Show AddictIt all started with Julia. I guess you could say she was my gateway drug. There I was, about 9 or 10 years old, when this vision appeared on the TV. Who was this tall sauceress in pearls?
-
LeftoversThe other day I had an interview and instead of rehashing every question, what popped into my head were things I wouldn’t and likely shouldn’t say. These are the ‘leftovers’ that are key to the YOU in you, but are probably best not shared.
-
Sweet VengeanceWith Halloween coming up, it’s the perfect time to send out some good-natured grisly retribution. Yet rather than let some fictional character do the maiming, I prefer a more personal approach.
-
The Annual MigrationAs I was walking along the river I noticed the annual migration of a certain species. Often brightly colored, many with strange plumage around their middles, they traveled in flocks of 2 to nearly 20. Yes, it's that time again - marathon season.
-
Scenes from a Job InterviewI’ve had my share of job interviews in this life. I’ve probably had your share too. The range of experiences is as vast as the number of application forms I’ve filled out while waiting to be inspected, interrogated, dissected and cross-examined.
-
The Unexpected Upsides of UnemploymentHappy anniversary to me. Two years ago today the firm I worked for eliminated my position and I joined the millions of unemployed.But here’s something I’ve discovered. There are actually some unexpected upsides to the unintended leisure life too.
-
The "New" AgeI’ve noticed that whenever I near a chronological milestone, that decade becomes the “new” something. ‘40’ was the new ‘30’, now ‘50’ is the new ‘40’. These ‘new ages’ have strangely tracked whatever Oprah was. I think Oprah controls time. -
WTF?I like swearing. And though I enjoy the zeal of those who use curses as noun, verb, adjective, and adverb all in one sentence, I prefer a more precise placement when I swear. It’s far more effect that way. -
How Do You like THEM Apples?Last weekend I was listening to a anNPR quiz show and one of the questions involved a recent poll on the cost to women of getting dumped. Why is someone studying this? It’s not bad enough you got dumped, but now someone is counting the pennies post dump? -
My Favorite Dinner GuestI like to eat. What I like even more is feeding people who like to eat, and my hands down favorite folks to feed are non-cooks who love to eat. Why? Because there are few opportunities in life you feel like a genius, goddess, AND Houdini simultaneously. -
The Michelangelo of Lemonade“When life hands you lemons, make lemonade.” Is anyone else tired of that ancient chestnut?However, I like the message, so I’ve tried to come up with a better way to say when the unexpected (and unwanted) happens and things go south, make the best of it
-
A Pound of Dirt Before You DieI am a subscriber to the pound of dirt before you die policy (with its 10-second-rule rider). The germs teach your body quite nicely how to defend against them. Sometimes I think I have to metaphorically swallow that dirt pound too. Life is messy
-
Passt Ein Deckel“Vor jeden pot passt ein deckel”…man, that is SO true.Don’t speak German? Basically it means for every pot there's a lid, you know, like for every shoe there’s a mate. Seems appropriate that this saying has been rolling around my head for most of my life
-
A Little Song, a Little Dance, a Little Seltzer Down Your PantsI have great fondness for the ridiculous.I could have been the one like Mary Tyler Moore, consumed by body-wrenching panty-wetting giggles during Chuckles the Clown’s funeral. And shushing doesn't help-it makes it worse.Shushing makes the snorting begin.
-
It's Just WordsMy latest word fascination involves those used to describe losing your job. The first time it happened I was a teacher, so I was “excessed”. By the third time it was ‘eliminating the position’, because the higher the salary, the more words needed to can.
-
Toto, I Don't Think We're in OZ Anymore..Gone are the heady days of my ample disposable income. Hell, gone are the days of ANY income (for now.)So, it’s ciao Choo, farewell Ferragamo, bye-bye Blahnik, perhaps next year Prada.
-
Having a Bad Day...NEED PIE!!!Despite the countless pharmaceuticals out there to combat anxiety, depression, manic behavior, and just plain AW-CRAP-ness, the only one I’ve found to work consistently is pie.
-
What You Really Wish You Could Say (and Probably Shouldn't)"So, what are you looking for?"..."What do you want to do?”... "What do you DO all day?" Sound familiar? These are questions you answer over and over again if you are unemployed.But...wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could say what you REALLY wanted to?
-
The Sweet Potato IncidentOne of the things they don’t tell you about unemployment is the way the realization that you no longer have a job sneaks up on you at inappropriate times-like when you are standing in Whole Foods with a sweet potato in your hand, sobbing...
-
So...You're Single?Well, yes. I Am. Not that I haven't had some pretty wonderful men in my life. They just didn't become husbands...well, my husband. And once you're pushing 50, you have pretty much heard every question that can be asked in folks attempt to figure out why.
-
Loo of the Year 1999I had the pleasure, no the honor really of not only visiting, but also using the winner of the prestigious "Loo of the Year, 1999"! I bet not a lot of folks can say that! Well, actually, Id guess a LOT could if they went to the Tower of London in 1999
-
Channeling the BroadsThere are some days when even my big girl, killer heels just isn't enough.Those are days I channel the Broads.You know a Broad when you see her.Tough, confident women Sinatra sings about. Broads don't take crap from nobody, and they DON'T tolerate whining
-
Ah, Paris ...It will be 10 years since I was last (and first) in Paris with my mom. The other significance is that we got on a plane a relatively short time after 9/11/01. Yet go we did because even in the worst of time you can possibly imagine, life moves forward.
-
You Want Some Cheese with that Whine?When you're unemployed, what the rest think of as a 3-day weekend is just another 3 days to you. Yet rather than fan the embers of melancholy, I extinguish that whine with some cheese...as in a really CHEESY movie. And the grand fromage?? Cinema de ELVIS!
-
Dear Dr. NobelI've never quite understood why there isn't a Nobel Prize for food. Seems to me there's one for just about everything else. Don't those judges in Stockholm ever get hungry?
