Let me introduce myself.

My name is Ruth Hanson. I'm an American that has had the rare privilege of growing up overseas. Every few years, my family would travel to a different country for my father's work. As a result, I've gotten the chance to live in countries like the UK, Nigeria, Vietnam, Thailand, and China, exploring differing cultures and trying the plethora of local food. This experience has allowed me to become the person I am today, and has paved my career path to what it is now.

By exploring the foods of each culture that I visited, I grew my passion. When I was trying to decide what to do when I grew up, I knew it had to involve food in some aspect. For a time, I thought I wanted to be a chef, cooking things for other people to enjoy. Then I found out how many hours they worked, how fast-paced the restaurant industry was, and realized that wasn't for me. I looked at being a nutritionist, but I realized that while understanding what makes up food is important, it took away my guilt-free way of eating. Instead, I obtained my Food Science degree, at Oregon State University. There, I was able to understand why food cooks the way it does, why food safety is so important and how to grade the Sensory aspects of food. I learned how to taste food scientifically!

Today, I work for a coffee company, where I learned how to maintain the quality of coffee beverages and now I create new coffee blends using the knowledge that I have gathered, to create coffees that are both complex and enjoyable!

My hope for this blog is to create a space that can answer your questions about food and travel. Please feel free to leave me questions and I will answer them with the knowledge that I have gathered over the years!