A friend I've never met & arm-chair travels to exotic kitchens

I've a confession to make: I'm at heart a techno-phobe. My sister bullied and bribed me into trying Facebook, my hubby insisted having a cellphone (a charged and functioning one) was a safety issue, and, after surviving those experiences, I got brave and ventured onto Twitter.

At first I was completely lost. Thankgoodness I found Cheryl Tan and her #LetsLunch bunch, a group of food enthusiasts from all over the world, who come together to share recipes, stories, friendship and virtual lunch in cyberspace. They helped me not only settle into Twitterverse, but have fun doing it. They're also the reason this blog exists.

Cheryl Tan

Somewhere along the way, I fell in love with their words, food and passions. They've become my go-to-sources on recipes and food advice. If one of them is having a bad day, I take the time to send an encouraging tweet. If one of them has something to celebrate, I add my tweet of congratulations to the pile. In other words, even though we've never met, I consider Cheryl & the #LetsLunch bunch my friends.

Cheryl's debut book, A Tiger in the Kitchen, came out earlier this month. The story is about her journey back to Singapore to reconnect with her family through a year of cooking and collecting recipes and stories.

Being a woman who straddles two cultures(born and brought up in Bangladesh and now making a home in West Texas),I had to read the book. And her publisher was kind enough to send me a copy. As I started reading, I traveled to the New York fashion scene, to a Singaporean funeral, to the kitchens of women half-way across the world. What a journey!

The San Angelo Standard-Times was kind enough to let me write a review.

To Cheryl: May there be more stories, more friends, and more feasting.

To learn more about Cheryl, check out her blog.