About Me

Hey y’all,

I’m Shirley. This is my blog dedicated to Food, Family, and Fun, maybe not always in that order. Sometimes I also share some personal life experiences that I believe might help you when going through something similar.

My homemaking journey began more than 45 years ago. Cooking, cleaning, managing a home, maintaining a budget, and raising my family have always been most important to me. I had the best teachers: my Mom, Grandparents, and several respected older women in my life. I listened and learned from others.

What I Cook

My favorite recipes are the tasty ones that everybody loves and requests again and again. I prefer easy recipes with few ingredients, like this one popular with readers. Sometimes a couple of extra steps in a recipe are totally worth the extra effort for flavor and compliments to the cook, like this old family favorite I learned from my Mom. All cooks enjoy compliments!

When I first learned to cook, we got lots of recipes from printed magazines. At one time, I subscribed to a few like Southern Living, Family Circle, and Woman’s Day. I first learned about Meal Planning from a magazine back in the late 70s. Shortcuts in the kitchen were fairly new ideas, using pre-packaged products back in those days.

These days, I incorporate a healthy mix of kitchen shortcuts along with cooking from scratch into our meal plans. One of my favorite shortcut recipes is this easy recipe for Chili Cheese Tater Tots I make for my teenage grandsons, who are excellent test subjects for new recipes.

When we host family birthday parties in our home, the honoree gets to pick the meal. Our most requested dish is this Low Country Shrimp Boil. It’s my personal favorite. Hubby and I make this for two occasionlly by cutting the recipe down.

Meal Planning is my thing. I like to know what I intend to cook for weeks in advance so I can take advantage of grocery store sales cycles. That is one way I try to manage the grocery budget.

I created this Month of Meals Planner Set for my readers, complete with a video where I teach you how to use it. Once you have created your list of Family Favorite meals, the rest is easy living.

You can find Monthly and Weekly Meal Plans that I have curated through the years on the Meal Plan page, right here.

My Experience

GRITS

I am a proud GRITS girl. Girl. Raised. In. The. South. Born in Atlanta and raised in Georgia. A whole lot of life experience has been bestowed upon me as a southern girl. I tried to soak it all up. Do the right thing. Love your neighbor. Respect your elders.

Stacy and Shirley Wood. Blogger Owner at Intelligent Domestications

High School/College Graduate

I enjoyed four years of JROTC in high school. Those are some of the best memories of my youth. I learned to navigate a map long before GPS was considered. Reading a map is actually a very useful skill. Has GPS ever taken you down a dark alley?

My husband and I went to college together late in life. I finished my Bachelor of Science in Public Service the year I turned 49. While in college, I participated in the Model United Nations program and attended several conferences as a delegate. I learned an appreciation for other cultures.

Restaurant Manager

As a restaurant manager for the Waffle House, I learned more skills than I care to admit. While the recipes are provided, the hard work is very real. Staying organized is essential to a good day.

After the Waffle House, I was recruited by a local meat and three cafeteria-style restaurant as a manager. This is where I learned some useful kitchen tips for cooking soul food from the experienced cooks in the kitchen. As a southerner, I had been cooking southern recipes my entire adult life, but there were still some good kitchen tricks that I picked up from those talented cooks. This Chocolate Pecan Pie recipe that I created is inspired by a similar dessert from those restaurants.

Commercial and Residential Cleaning Business

Because I lost my voice as a result of a medical problem, I left the restaurant industry. You need to be able to talk, and I couldn’t for a while. I took time off. Had a successful surgery and refocused. My hubby and I started a residential and commercial cleaning business. I worked during the week cleaning homes. He helped on the weekends when we were cleaning offices. We turned the business over to our oldest daughter after twenty years, when we both finished our college degrees.

I learned a whole lot of great tips about cleaning houses during those twenty years. Some of those tricks and tips were through experience, and some were shared by my clients. This is why I have a Cleaning category on the blog, to share cleaning tips that I know work.

After college, I worked for a short time as a social worker. I very much enjoyed helping people with the services at my agency. There were times I was able to go beyond our services with referrals to other agencies. I researched our local resources and created a referral book to share with fellow social workers so we could do a better job of helping our clients. I love helping people.

Blogging as a career

I started this blog in 2013. It was a difficult year in my life. My Mom passed after her third battle with breast cancer, and I left the social service agency. I wrote about my Mom’s Breast Cancer journey here.

When I started this blog, I was inspired by several blogs that I followed at the time. It was during the Extreme Couponing phase in society. I could see that these bloggers were moms, supplementing their income with these blogs. I was confident I could do the same thing. I have never been a ‘deals’ blog. I have always been home, family, and recipes.

I did some research, took a class, met some great blogging friends who are still my friends, and never looked back. FYI, blogging is always an on-the-job-training type of job. The internet is ever evolving. They say that change is good. There is a never-ending parade of classes, workshops, seminars, and conferences available to stay up-to-date with these changes. I know more than I ever intended to know about how to run a website. It has been nothing but fun every step of the way.

I love sharing recipes that you might enjoy cooking for your own family. Party ideas that real people actually put to good use for family fun, is something my family has helped to create through the years. I even created a page with Family games with many ideas that my own family has enjoyed. FYI, my crew loves to play the Reindeer Antler Game at our Chrismtas gathering.

My Craft Room

It was one of my blogging buddies who really inspired me to tap into my crafty side. I enjoyed making floral arrangements years before I ever began blogging. I took a floral arranging class where I learned some basics. I applied those tips when I started making cemetery arrangements. This How To Make A Cemetery Arrangement tutorial has been quite popular through the years. I still do these, exactly like the tutorial explains.

These days, I enjoy making Wreaths for my front door, especially for the holiday season. I love, love, love to decorate my home for each season. My family seems to enjoy the ambiance a little seasonal decor brings. It is a simple way to create happiness. I have many DIY decorating projects, often Dollar Tree decor. A few of my favorite projects include:

Family favorite cake recipes

Seasonal changes mean I will be decorating my home to create a warm and cozy feeling. The summer season means my home is decked out in red, white, and blue. My favorite time of year is Fall and I decorate for Fall the minute the air begins to have the slightest bit of ‘fall feeling.’ I even consider the Fall season to be a ‘holiday season’ because I love it so much!

I enjoy keeping my dining room table set for the seasons as well and have been known to create a fun table setting for birthdays in the family.

You can see the Tablescapes I have shared on the blog. This one is my personal favorite.

Recipes from my blog

Sweet Glazed Blueberry Biscuits recipe at INTELLIGENTDOMESTICATIONS.COM — Sweet Glazed Blueberry Biscuits Recipe

Made from scratch, favorite recipes

Short-cut Recipes

BBQ Chicken Wings with a little char on them piled into a serving pan — Crockpot BBQ Chicken Wings

Rate these recipes!

Please rate my recipes when you visit, print, and especially when you cook them. It helps me a lot, and I appreciate you for that!

Recipe Question?

Please leave your questions in the comment section of the recipe post. I will be happy to answer as soon as I see it. You can also send me an email. I check it daily. shirley@intelligentdomestications.com

Follow this blog

Follow along on my social channels. You can also leave comments and questions there. I have gotten some great ideas from readers through the years via comments, especially on Pinterest recipes.

Intelligent Domestication on Facebook

Follow Our Pinterest

Follow Our Instagram

Follow Our X (Twitter)

What I Cook