This is a place to find something good to cook, remember a meal you grew up loving, and feel a little more confident putting dinner on the table.
Hi, I’m April. Here’s how this all came to be.
How I became The Tipsy Housewife
For most of my working life, I had two or three jobs. Alongside my full-time work, I bartended, waited tables, and babysat for a Taiwanese family on Chicago’s North Shore. I met them when their first baby was about nine months old. That baby recently left for college.
When their mom was expecting her third child, she needed someone full time. I was ready for a break between career moves, and the timing worked. What began as babysitting grew into grocery shopping, cooking all their meals, organizing the house, arranging home projects, and driving carpool.
The family felt “nanny” didn’t cover everything I did, so they started calling me their housewife. Once in a while, I also made a specialty cocktail for happy hour. And there it was: The Tipsy Housewife.
Every so often, someone assumes the name means I stayed home and was taken care of. The funny part is that I was taking care of a family of five.
A little encouragement from my grandma
I was helping the mom with Instagram for her crafting business. When I told my grandma what I was doing, she asked why I wasn’t sharing my experiences on my own account.
I already had a hobby Facebook page where I posted food photos, so in January 2017, I started The Tipsy Housewife Instagram and committed to posting every day. I photographed everything anyway, so I had plenty to share. I still look back at some of those early pictures and cringe!
People began asking for recipes, which I squeezed into captions. Another blogger explained how a website could work, and I loved the idea of having a recipe journal of my own, beyond social media.
About a year later, the website came along, followed by Pinterest and YouTube. I enjoyed meeting people at influencer events, but I kept coming back to what I liked most: being in my kitchen and sharing something people could use in theirs.
Recipes brought us together. Real life kept us connected.
The website grew alongside Facebook, where readers connected with the meals and everyday life I shared. Mr. Tipsy and I don’t have children, and I often joke that I live an empty nester lifestyle even though I never actually had a nest.
Some readers saw a familiar stage of life. Others enjoyed seeing a full, happy life as a couple without children. Sharing life in Chicago alongside supper clubs and the Northwoods of Wisconsin and Michigan brought more people into the conversation.
A meal that works for your life.
I’ve always been a teacher at heart. During my 16 years with the Chicago Park District, implementing cooking programs brought me so much joy. I loved helping people find ways to cook that made sense for their time, budget, and the people they were feeding.
That is still the purpose of The Tipsy Housewife. Cooking might mean making a Sunday dinner, doctoring up boxed macaroni and cheese, or opening a few cans. Putting a meal on the table matters. I want you to find something here that works for you and feel good about making it.
The recipes we remember
I love sharing family recipes and reviving dishes I find in vintage cookbooks. Sometimes a recipe brings back a reader’s mother’s kitchen or something their grandmother used to make. Those memories start some of my favorite conversations.
The Tipsy Housewife is a place for new dinner ideas, but it is also a place to remember the food and people we have loved.
From dinner at home to a recipe you can use
I cook nearly every day. Whether I’m home with Mr. Tipsy, at the lake with my mom, or spending time with my cousins, dinner goes on the table. That ethos feeds into all of the Tipsy Housewife recipes.
I cook what we feel like eating
An idea might come from the season, a craving, what I have on hand, or a party we’re planning. I shop for the ingredients and make the meal, photographing and filming as I go.
Your questions help us improve
We revisit popular recipes and add answers to the questions readers ask most. That can mean explaining a cut of meat, a cooking technique, where to find an ingredient, or a substitution. Grocery access and cooking experience vary, and your questions help us make the recipes more useful.
Find something for your table
Everyday meals
Ideas for the nights when you need to decide what’s for dinner.
Nostalgic favorites
Family recipes and familiar dishes worth making again.
Food for company
Appetizers, Sunday dinners, and recipes for gathering around the table.
Meet April
For more about my background, cooking experience, and published work, visit my About April page.