About Judi

About Judi Klee

Judi KleeI am a multi-faceted person who loves to be creative through three gifts I have been blessed with…the love of music, experimenting with food, and crafting. These three areas have been a part of my “being” most of my life and if I attempt to disregard any one of them, especially music, it continues to “call” me until I bring it back into my life. So, I’ve finally succumbed to juggling all three into my endeavors the best way I can. I now have several websites that reflect what I do.

My Musical Endeavors

I felt drawn to music extremely early in my life…before entering kindergarten. Really! I would sing, and sing, and sing. Luckily my parents didn’t attempt to hush me up. That urge to sing has followed me to this day. I got my first guitar when I was 12 and started performing publically at the tender age of 13 playing guitar and singing folk music. I loved every bit of it.

From there I met my husband-to-be, David, and started singing pop music with his band. We eventually married and took the band “on the road” performing in resorts and night clubs. From there we settled in the South, he returned to school, and I turned to Christian music, which became my musical “home.” Music never felt more comfortable. To this day, I still focus on performing Christian music through Inspiration Ministry, which David and I created. We’re a musical duet, performing wherever we can in hopes of inspiring others to use their God-given talents any way they can. Along the way, I have performed in churches, concert halls, outdoor events, and live on the radio, entertaining thousands over the years.

During our years together, we’ve also established TWO professional recording studios where we not only recorded our own music, but music for other musicians too. One studio was also a music school where we had well over 200 students in each week for private lessons!

My Food Endeavors

Just like music, I discovered that I loved to be in the kitchen early in my life…while in elementary school! My mother was brave, as she allowed me to actually cook for the family while I was home alone after school. Yep, really. I’d cook supper for my family so it would be ready when they got home from work. What a daring soul my mother was!

My love of “doing all things food” grew and I went on to earn both a Bachelor of Science degree in Food and Nutrition, followed by a Master of Science degree in Nutrition. From there I taught college classes in nutrition and related courses.

The urge to be in the kitchen continued to call me, so I started an online business selling homemade pizzelles, Italian wafer cookies. I also sold them locally at craft shows and quickly became known as the “pizzelle lady.” That endeavor grew to the point that David and I decided to go commercial. We purchased a LARGE commercial building, sold our home and moved upstairs, rebuilt the ENTIRE building (WHAT a project THAT was!) and opened The Spice Rack, a bakery/bistro/kitchen supply store.

The store was successful, with my customer base and demands continually growing to the point that I eventually had to sell it. The grueling long hours, especially around the holidays, started to take a serious toll on my health. To preserve my health, I had to give it up. Immediately after selling the business, I compiled a cookbook, Secrets of a Professional Baker that is available for purchase at TheBookPatch.com.

Now, to continue my kitchen/food efforts, I’ve turned to producing food and related videos for my YouTube channel, “Judi in the Kitchen.” My quest is to offer help to others in any way I can. Many people struggle today with how to cook, and I’m here to help if I can. Post questions and if I can help, I will!

Visit my YouTube channel at “Judi in the Kitchen” to see my ever-growing collection of food and tip videos! Recipes can be downloaded from the “Recipes” page (and subsequent pages) of my website http://HandMadeInIowa.com. Visit the site to see all I do!

My Crafting Endeavors

Like my other gifts, I found that I enjoyed creating things through working with textiles early in my life. I started sewing and mending clothes for people while in high school. The love of textiles has followed me to this day. I’ve created many things over the years, including wardrobes for myself.

Now, I’ve settled into making handcrafted items that I sell through my website, http://HandMadeInIowa.com. I particularly enjoy making quilted table toppers, runners, and related items, so you will see a lot of them there. They make great gifts, so remember them when you need a special something for someone!

I want this site to be open for all to post comments and questions, so feel free to contact me! Let me know if I can help you with your food or other endeavors in my areas of expertise.

Enjoy! Judi

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10 thoughts on “About Judi

  1. JOY

    WOW! I never thought I would WOW a cooking website. I am learning so much Are there SENIOR SENIORS’ diets-“foods to eat and time of day” to eat, or not eat? Lately I’ve heard that SENIOR SENIORS have different dietary requirements than previously thought.

    Reply
    1. Judi Post author

      Hi Joy! I’m glad you enjoy the website! You have an interesting question. I have not specifically researched dietary needs of senior seniors, but older folks may have some different dietary needs depending on their individual situation, and that would be between them and their healthcare providers. Overall, I advocate eating LOTS of fresh fruits and vegetables. All you can manage to get into your day is great! I think this applies no matter what age a person is (unless there are specific dietary restrictions based on medical conditions). Fruits and vegetables are so full of important health-promoting and supporting factors that no one can say too much for them. Regarding time of day…if you want to allow your liver to properly detoxify, it’s important to refrain from any fatty foods (which includes all animal products) until lunchtime or later. The liver needs fat-free mornings to finish its job of housecleaning. Eating fat from any source in the morning disrupts the liver’s natural cleansing cycle, so the job is left unfinished until the next morning. So, consider the produce department of any grocery store to be an all-you-can-eat buffet! I hope this helps. Thanks for checking in and asking your question 🙂

      Reply
  2. Steven Lipton

    Hi Judi,
    I am planning to use you quilt binding method. Your video was very well done. I think that you mentioned there that you used 2” wide binding. I plan to use 2 1/2” wide binding. What problems would you see with using the wider binding?

    Reply
    1. Judi Post author

      Hi Steven,
      I don’t think you’ll find real problems using 2-1/2″ binding. There may just be excess fabric. So you could compensate by using a larger seam allowance, or you just may have some “slack” fabric at the outside fold. Try it and see if it works for you. That’s the only way of knowing how it will work and if you’ll prefer it. Thanks for checking in! Best wishes 🙂

      Reply
  3. Althea S.

    I just wanted to say thank you for your videos on Youtube. I came here from the testing the yeast video because I am about to make some gluten free bread. Keep doing what makes you happy. Have a wonderful day!!

    Reply
    1. Judi Post author

      Hi Althea! Your comment has really touched my soul! You’re very welcome for the videos. It’s very rewarding for me to hear comments like yours because my goal at this stage in my life is simply to help others in any way that I can. I know that I have a lot of “kitchen newbies” watching, so I’m focusing on educational type videos to help people as they learn to cook. I have plenty of potential topics with my “101” videos, so I hope to do this for quite a while to come. Thank you for watching and also sharing your experience. Yes, I’ll have a wonderful day…you made it that much better! I hope your gluten free bread came out well! Take care, Judi 🙂

      Reply
    1. Judi Post author

      Hi Tulis!

      Thanks for checking out my blog posts, AND for your kind words! I am not certain which post you’re referring to with your question. The easy cooked spinach? If you’re wondering what to serve it with…to me, it would go with just about any dish you want to serve it with. Meat, fish, poultry, casseroles, veggie burgers, with red beans and rice, pretty much anything! Please let me know if this is not what you were asking about.

      Take care,
      Judi

      Reply
  4. Barbara Taylor

    This is a new site for me.

    I have a JUDI friend who also does beautiful crochet work.
    I’ll enjoy reading more about you and seeing your ‘creations’.

    Thanks much and God Bless!!

    Reply

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