About

"If you give this moose a cupcake, she will want to blog about it."

Hello and welcome! My name is Carla, and I'm a Pittsburgh girl. Unlike most food bloggers, I don't have a family of my own. Right now, I am a single girl who independently lives in a small town with cows for neighbors.

I don't have any formal culinary training. Sure, I had a cooking class in middle school then later high school. My experience comes from reading and doing. Food, especially desserts, have always been a big attraction to me. Not quite sure where this food passion came from. My parents definitely aren't bakers nor adventurous cooks. And unfortunately, I never really knew my grandparents.

Growing up, I would always go through my mom's magazines and rip out the recipes because the pictures intrigued me. I still remember my first "collection" being a round-up of brownies. Eventually I got binders and kept all my pages and clippings in it. I still have most of those pages (although I don't think I've actually made them!)

Right now, baking and blogging are my hobbies. Currently, I am a full-time videographer. Someday I want to either marry the two and work for a food production of some sort OR take the dive and open up a bakery.

The Cat



Meet Murray, who was born in 2000 and adopted in 2001. My parents never told me we were adopting a pet. I thought I was going to the eye doctor to finally get contacts, but instead, they drove me to where Adopt A Pet was that weekend. My dad didn't seem to care about getting a pet, but guess who Murray picked out? Now he is probably the most single spoiled brat in the world. Due to my current living situation, Murray is still with my parents (who secretly are glad I didn't take him with me).

How Chocolate Moosey Was Born



Truth? Chocolate Moosey as a whole has been around since early 2000s. I started it in high school as a personal journal but later abandoned it when I went off to college. When I studied abroad in 2007 in Ireland, I got super homesick during my last month. I've been browsing food blogs like crazy, so I decided to start one myself. I was still in love with the name Chocolate Moosey, so I kept it and started anew.

So how did I come up with the name? Because of this guy. I sold cookies as a Girl Scout. When you reached certain goals, you got a prize. I rarely got prizes, so this guy was special. The decision was final when I was distracted in chemistry class and started drawing moose on my paper.

Things You Didn't Know About Me

- I once set spaghetti on fire. It was during college in an apartment with an electric stove. When I was breaking the pasta, a tiny piece broke off and landed directly on the burner. Instead of turning black and smoking, it literally burst into a tiny flame. Of course silly me blew it out like a birthday candle LOL

- I LOVE heights, especially with my camera. The higher, the better. Of course it has to be steady. I'm not going to climb a rusty and unsturdy ladder.

- I am TERRIFIED of being underwater. I can see it, stand next to it, stand in it, sit in it, walk it in, touch it, but I HATE being under it. Someone once talked about scuba diving, and I almost had a panic attack thinking about it being that deep in the water. However, with that said, I've been snorkeling. The mask and tube made a huge difference (I was also wearing a life vest).

- I can't swim. Growing up I was so embarrassed I couldn't swim, but now I've accepted it. Sure my parents took me to swimming lessons, but even as a kid I was terrified of being underwater and could never relax. I finally learned how to swim in high school when you had to take swimming class as a freshman. And by learning how to swim, I really mean I know how to not drown in a swimming pool. The ocean with the waves crashing? Yea not so much :S

- After spending two paragraphs talking about me hating water, going to San Salvador, Bahamas, was one of the best trips I've ever been on. I tagged along with geology majors (all I had to do was take one class!), so we were on a VERY remote island. I'm talking no more than 1000 people, staying on an old military base that was turned into a research center, drinking powdered milk because shipping in fresh milk expired too fast, peeing in the woods because you were an hour away from the closest toilet, spending 10 minutes emailing your parents that you made it alive because the internet was that slow, the airport being so tiny that the snack bar was outside across the street and security was a trailer attached to the check-in building. I miss the island and the beaches SO much because there were no tourists. It was pure (annoying) sand and beautiful stars.

- I hate sharing food I made unless I try it first because I'm afraid people will think it tastes horrible.

- Sometimes I wonder if I've ever been an inspiration to anyone.

- I am a recycling freak. My garbage cans never have paper in them, and if I'm out in public, I will take my bottle or can home to recycle.

- I am obsessed with Kate Voegele's music. I've seen her live three times and met her once.

In Love With: coffee, chocolate, cupcakes, cookbooks, garlic, mushrooms, broccoli

Hates: avocado, anise, blueberries, pork chops, lima beans

For Fun: baking, blogging, photography, traveling, grocery shopping

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