Hey! We’re All Cottage Cheese (And We’re So Glad You’re Here)
Our Purpose
Imagine a 7-year-old girl in her nan’s tiny Camden kitchen, watching in absolute horror as her grandmother scooped cottage cheese straight from the container. “That’s disgusting, Nan!” I declared with all the dramatic flair a British child could muster. Nan just laughed, added a drizzle of honey, and said, “Trust me, love. Sometimes the most ordinary things hold the most extraordinary surprises.”
Fast-forward thirty-five years, and I’m Elsie Hammond, standing in my Vermont kitchen, having that exact same cottage cheese moment with my own family. Except this time, I was the one laughing as my husband made the same disgusted face I’d perfected all those years ago. That’s when it hit me – cottage cheese isn’t just an ingredient. It’s this incredibly misunderstood, protein-packed miracle that deserves so much better than its boring reputation.
Our purpose isn’t just about recipes. It’s about changing minds, one delicious spoonful at a time. Because somewhere out there, someone’s avoiding cottage cheese based on childhood trauma or outdated ideas, and honestly? That breaks our cottage-cheese-loving hearts.
Our Mission
Every single day, we’re in our kitchens (yes, plural – we’re spread across Vermont and California, but cottage cheese unites us all). We test every recipe until it works for real people with real taste buds and real skepticism. Lily burns things, I over-complicate simple dishes, and Marcus designs websites between taste-testing sessions and probably wondering how he ended up as our unofficial cottage cheese guinea pig.
We create recipes for the cottage cheese curious, the protein seekers, the busy parents, and yes, even the cottage cheese converts who just need fresh inspiration. Because over 25,000 people trust us with their snack time, breakfast planning, and dinner solutions, and honestly? That responsibility keeps us up at night in the best possible way.
We’re working toward a world where cottage cheese isn’t the punchline – it’s the star. Where “high protein” doesn’t mean “tastes like cardboard,” and where this humble ingredient gets the recognition it deserves as the versatile, delicious, nutrition powerhouse it actually is.
Our Core Values
Real Food, Real Simple: If it takes more than 30 minutes or requires ingredients you can’t pronounce, we’re not interested. Lily learned this the hard way after her infamous “17-ingredient cottage cheese soufflé disaster” of 2023. We keep it simple because life’s complicated enough.
Protein Without Pretense: We’re not here to convince you cottage cheese will change your life. But we will show you that getting 14 grams of protein can taste amazing and feel effortless. No shame, no pressure, just good food that happens to be good for you.
Honest About Failures: We’ll tell you when recipes flop (looking at you, cottage cheese ice cream attempt #47) because learning from our disasters saves you from yours. Trust us, we’ve made every cottage cheese mistake possible, so you don’t have to.
Community Over Competition: Our readers teach us as much as we teach them. When someone shares their cottage cheese hack in the comments, we get genuinely excited. This isn’t about us being the experts – it’s about all of us figuring this out together.
Meet Our Expert Team (The Humans Behind the Screen)
Elsie Hammond – Recipe Creator & Chief Cottage Cheese Evangelist (Plus Nan’s Legacy Keeper)
Hi there! I’m the one who started this whole cottage cheese obsession, and I’m still slightly amazed that it became my actual job. Born in London, raised on proper cups of tea and questionable British cuisine, I somehow ended up in a small Vermont town convincing Americans that cottage cheese belongs in their dinner rotation.
My cottage cheese journey began in my nan’s Camden kitchen when I was seven – the same kitchen where she taught me that food is love, tradition is important, and sometimes the most ordinary ingredients hold the most extraordinary potential. After years of ignoring cottage cheese (sorry, Nan), I rediscovered it during a particularly uninspired dinner prep moment. One taste of cottage cheese mixed with herbs from my garden, and I was hooked.
I’ve spent the last five years developing over 200 cottage cheese recipes, from my famous Cottage Cheese Pancakes (viral on Instagram three times) to sophisticated dinner party dishes that make people forget they’re eating “diet food.” My background in food writing and recipe development, combined with a genuine obsession with this ingredient, means I test everything obsessively until it’s absolutely delicious.
Marcus Reed – Website Designer & Creative Problem Solver (And Our Cottage Cheese Convert)
Hey! I’m the guy who designs beautiful websites and accidentally became a cottage cheese enthusiast. Started working with Elsie and Lily on the website design, and somehow ended up as their primary taste-tester and technology translator. Five years of web design experience and 50+ completed projects, but honestly? This cottage cheese gig has been my favorite challenge yet.
I bring the technical expertise that keeps allcottagecheese.com running smoothly, loads fast, and actually converts cottage cheese skeptics into believers. Mobile-first design, user experience optimization, and making sure every recipe is easy to find and follow – that’s my jam. Well, that and Lily’s cottage cheese jam recipe, which I definitely didn’t think I’d love as much as I do.
My California base means I get to test recipes with a West Coast palate while Elsie brings that British sensibility. It’s a good balance, plus someone has to make sure our website works as hard as our recipes do.
Lily Foster – Chef & Recipe Developer (And Cottage Cheese Skeptic Turned Obsessive)
Hey there! I’m the professional chef who started with a 99¢ grocery store challenge and ended up completely obsessed with cottage cheese. My California-based culinary background includes restaurant experience, catering, and recipe development, but this cottage cheese journey has been the most fun I’ve ever had in a kitchen.
My cottage cheese conversion happened during a particularly broke month when I challenged myself to create gourmet meals using only ingredients under $1. Cottage cheese became my secret weapon – protein, creaminess, versatility, and it actually made everything taste better. I was officially hooked.
I bring professional technique to home-friendly recipes, which means I know how to make cottage cheese taste restaurant-quality without requiring chef skills or specialty equipment. My specialty is taking classic dishes and figuring out how cottage cheese can make them better (spoiler: it almost always can).
I’ve developed over 150 cottage cheese recipes ranging from 5-minute snacks to dinner party showstoppers, and I love proving to skeptics that this humble ingredient deserves a spot in every kitchen.
How We Actually Do This Work
Here’s the thing – we’re not just throwing cottage cheese into random recipes and hoping for the best (though we definitely did that in the early days). Our process is beautifully chaotic but surprisingly methodical.
Every recipe starts with a problem we’re trying to solve. “I need protein but I’m tired of the same old snacks.” “I want creamy pasta but lighter.” “I need something impressive for dinner guests but not complicated.” Then we experiment, usually in multiple kitchens simultaneously, texting each other photos of failures and victories.
We test each recipe at least three times before it ever sees our website. Lily handles the professional technique refinement, I focus on flavor combinations and British-meets-American adaptations, and Marcus makes sure everything actually works for normal humans with normal kitchens. If it survives what we call “the Tuesday night test” – tired cook, hungry family, minimal prep time – it makes the cut.
We research nutrition information, test for common dietary modifications (gluten-free, vegetarian, dairy-free alternatives), and honestly? We eat a lot of cottage cheese. Our grocery bills are ridiculous, but our protein intake is excellent.
Why Trust Us? (Fair Question!)
Look, we know “cottage cheese experts” sounds like something we made up (and honestly, sometimes we can’t believe it’s our actual job either). But here’s what we bring to your kitchen:
Elsie’s food writing background means every recipe is tested, tasted, and written with real home cooks in mind. Her British heritage brings unique flavor combinations that Americans haven’t discovered yet, and her Vermont location means she understands seasonal cooking and local ingredients.
Lily’s professional culinary training means our recipes actually work from a technical standpoint. She knows why things fail, how to fix them, and how to make cottage cheese taste like it belongs in fine dining (which it absolutely does).
Marcus’s web design expertise ensures you can actually find, save, and follow our recipes without wanting to throw your phone. Plus, his “normal person who doesn’t cook professionally” perspective keeps us grounded in reality.
Together, we’ve created over 200 tested cottage cheese recipes, helped thousands of people discover this ingredient, and somehow made cottage cheese cool again (if it was ever cool to begin with, which we’re still debating).
Our Community (That’s You!)
Here’s what makes us ridiculously happy: your success stories. The mom who finally found a protein source her kids will eat. The fitness enthusiast who discovered savory cottage cheese bowls. The skeptical husband who now requests our cottage cheese lasagna for his birthday.
You share your modifications, your failures, your victories, and honestly? You make our recipes better. When someone comments that they added paprika to our basic cottage cheese bowl and it was amazing – that becomes part of our next recipe development session. When you tell us the texture tips that work for your family, we add them to our instructions.
This isn’t just us talking at you about cottage cheese. It’s all of us figuring out how to make this wonderful ingredient work in our real lives, with our real budgets, our real time constraints, and our real taste preferences.
Our Promise to You
We test every single recipe before it goes live, but we also update them based on your feedback. If something doesn’t work, we fix it. If we discover a better method, we update the post and let you know.
We research nutrition information from reliable sources, but we’re not nutritionists or dietitians – we’re food enthusiasts who happen to love an ingredient that’s naturally high in protein. We’ll tell you the nutritional benefits we know about, but we always recommend consulting with healthcare professionals for specific dietary needs.
We fact-check our food science, cite our sources when we make health claims, and admit when we don’t know something. We’re constantly learning, and we’re honest about our knowledge limitations.
Most importantly, we read every email, comment, and message. Yes, really. It takes us longer to respond sometimes than we’d like, but we genuinely care about your cottage cheese journey and want to help make it successful.
Let’s Stay Connected (We Actually Read Our Emails)
General Questions & Recipe Help: [email protected] (We usually respond within 24-48 hours, and yes, we love hearing about your cottage cheese experiments)
Technical Support: [email protected] (Website issues, password problems, mobile site troubles – Marcus handles these personally and responds within 24 hours)
Recipe Development & Collaboration: [email protected] (Want to share a recipe idea or collaborate? Lily reads everything and gets genuinely excited about cottage cheese innovations)
Personal Stories & British Humor: [email protected] (I love hearing your cottage cheese stories, childhood food memories, and any questions about adapting recipes for British ingredients)
Social Media: We’re on Instagram @allcottagecheese sharing behind-the-scenes kitchen disasters and daily cottage cheese inspiration
For Technical Support:
Having trouble with your account or the website acting wonky? Marcus personally handles every support email at [email protected]. He’s usually pretty quick (24-48 hours max), and yes, he actually enjoys solving these puzzles! Whether it’s password resets, mobile viewing issues, or the recipe search function being stubborn, he’s got you covered.