Best wishes to you. Welcome to  tollys.cooking, a happy record of my adventures in the kitchen, market, bottle shop, garden, and dining table.

      I created this website because I wanted a fun, simple way to catalogue and update my recipes, and to have a way to share my cookbook freely with others—without annoying adverts and pointless filler text which forces you to see more adverts. I have not always been good at cooking—no one is, and with that in mind, I have written pieces for those young and beginner cooks who are just as I was: stumbling in the kitchen, trying to figure out how to do the basics, wanting to make a home that felt like home. There is nothing more human than sharing the joy of food with others, except perhaps burning your food.

      I have designed this website to be both Desktop- and Mobile-friendly. For those curious, my main CSS file can be found here.

      This website is proudly hosted on neocities.org.

      My name is Anatolij, but I go by “Tolly” for short. I reside at 45° N by a grand river, with access to many farmers markets and perhaps an excess of grocery stores. My favourite bottle shop is only two blocks down, and I have zero trouble finding good quality cheese at my local co-op. Apples grow abundantly here, and I am able to buy local ice cider on a regular basis. After Winter takes her leave, I grow pretty yellow and red tomatoes and peppers on my balcony. I am addicted to the scent of home-grown carnation sprouts; they make excellent garnish and herbs.

      I will admit that this says very little about  “me”, and more about where I live, but are we not defined by the land, air, and waters around us? I suppose I could tell you about the men I loved, and still love, the music I dance to, the songs I sing, and the griefs that have left holes in my heart, which I have had to fill with dark, rich earth and plant flowers over. Maybe in time I will write about these things here. But for now… know that I am overjoyed to live in my adopted hometown, and to grow fat off the land that surrounds me, and the cultural lands that we have all shared with each other in earnest.