About

Hi, I'm Hannah Collins

Welcome to PlatterTales! I'm Hannah, and I'm delighted you've found your way to my little corner of the internet. At seventy years old, I never imagined I'd be running a recipe website, but here we are, and I couldn't be happier about it. This is where I share the recipes that have fed my family, brought people together around my table, and kept my kitchen feeling like the heart of my home for decades.

A Lifetime in the Kitchen

I was born and raised in rural Vermont, where home cooking wasn't just a hobby—it was simply how people lived. My mother taught me to cook starting when I was about eight years old. Back then, there wasn't much choice in the matter. If you wanted to eat well, you learned to cook, preserve, and make do with what you had.

I learned to make bread from scratch before I ever tasted store-bought. I helped my mother can vegetables from our garden every summer and learned to stretch a chicken into three different meals. Those early lessons stuck with me, even as my life took me far from that Vermont farmhouse. After I married my husband Richard in 1975, we moved around quite a bit for his work—Pennsylvania, Texas, finally settling in North Carolina—but my cooking always kept us connected to home.

Over the years, I raised three kids who are all grown now with families of their own. I cooked through picky eating phases, teenage appetites that seemed bottomless, holidays with extended family crowding into our dining room, and eventually, quiet dinners for just Richard and me after the kids moved out. Through all of it, cooking remained the constant. It was how I showed love, how I comforted, how I celebrated.

Why I Created PlatterTales

When Richard passed away two years ago, I found myself alone in a house that suddenly felt too quiet. My kids worried about me, called constantly, visited as often as they could. My daughter Emily suggested I needed a project, something to focus on besides the empty chair at my dinner table. She'd always loved my cooking and had been begging me for years to write down my recipes so she could make them for her own children.

One afternoon, my grandson helped me set up PlatterTales on the computer. I'll be honest—I was terrified of technology. I'd barely used email, and the idea of creating a website seemed completely beyond me. But he walked me through it, set everything up, and showed me how to add my recipes. What started as something to keep me busy became something I genuinely love doing.

PlatterTales exists for home cooks who want tried-and-true recipes that actually work. It's for busy parents looking for weeknight dinner solutions, for people just learning to cook who need clear guidance, and for anyone who appreciates the kind of comfort food that American families have been making for generations. I share the recipes I've been cooking for fifty years—weeknight dinners, holiday classics, desserts that make occasions special, and the everyday meals that keep families fed and happy.

How I Work on My Recipes

Every recipe on PlatterTales is something I've made countless times over the years. These aren't new experimental creations—they're the recipes I've refined through decades of cooking. I know exactly how they should taste, what can go wrong, and how to fix it when it does.

When I write up a recipe for the website, I make it again in my kitchen to make sure my instructions are clear and my measurements are accurate. After cooking by feel and intuition for so long, it's actually quite challenging to measure everything and write down exactly what I do. But I know that's what people need, so I take my time to get it right.

I cook in a regular home kitchen with a stove that's probably older than most people reading this. I shop at the same grocery store I've been going to for twenty years. There's nothing fancy about my setup, and that's exactly the point. If it works in my kitchen with my basic tools, it'll work in yours.

A Small Family Effort

While I handle all the cooking and recipe writing, I couldn't manage PlatterTales without help from my family. My daughter Emily and my son Michael have divided up the technical responsibilities. Emily helps me with the website when things go wrong or when I need to update something and can't figure out how. Michael handles our social media presence, though I still don't quite understand what Instagram is or why anyone would want to follow recipes there.

They're patient with me when I accidentally delete something or call them in a panic because I can't get a recipe to publish. We've all learned together, and it's brought us closer during a time when I really needed my family around me. They taste-test new recipes when they visit, offer honest feedback, and remind me that even at seventy, I still have plenty to share with the world.

What I Promise You

Every recipe on this website comes from real experience. These aren't trendy dishes or complicated restaurant techniques. They're honest, homestyle American cooking that has stood the test of time in my kitchen. I want you to be able to trust that when you follow one of my recipes, it will turn out the way it's supposed to—comforting, delicious, and worth making again.

I've made enough cooking mistakes over seventy years to know what can go wrong, and I try to help you avoid those pitfalls. If there's a tricky step or something that needs special attention, I'll tell you. If there's a shortcut that works just as well, I'll share that too. My goal is to make your time in the kitchen easier and more enjoyable.

How the Website Works

I want to be straightforward with you about how PlatterTales operates. The website earns income through advertisements and affiliate links. When you see ads on the site or when I recommend kitchen tools or ingredients that link to retailers, it helps support the time I spend creating and sharing these recipes. It allows me to keep all the content free and accessible to anyone who wants to use it.

Thank You for Being Here

I'm so grateful you've taken the time to visit PlatterTales. Whether you're looking for a comforting weeknight dinner, planning a special family meal, or just browsing for inspiration, I hope you find recipes here that become favorites in your own kitchen. These recipes have served my family well for decades, and it brings me such joy to share them with yours. Look around, try whatever appeals to you, and happy cooking!