About Christina

Hi, I’m Christina. Every Recipe On This Site Has My Name On It. I Don’t Take That Lightly.

New York Times bestselling author and recipe developer Christina Hitchcock has been testing recipes in her real family kitchen since 2010.

Christina, in a blue blouse, stands in the kitchen, smiling warmly as she prepares food on a baking tray.

Meet Christina

I’ve been collecting recipes since before I could read them.

As a kid, I was the one standing at my grandma’s elbow, watching her make homemade ravioli and trying to memorize every move. I inherited her recipe box when she passed. And her sister’s. And my mother-in-law’s. Over the years, they kept piling up — recipes clipped from magazines, printed off the internet, scrawled on paper plates at parties. I’d stop mid-conversation to ask someone for a recipe and write it on whatever was nearby.

In 2010, I finally decided to do something about the pile. One rainy afternoon, a movie called Julie & Julia, and a laptop later — It Is a Keeper was live.

I had no idea what I was doing. But I had a standard.

Watch more on YouTube.

The Standard

Here’s how IAK works: I make the recipe. I make it again if something feels off. Then I feed it to my husband and son — neither of whom are shy about sharing their opinions. If they ask for it again, it earns the name.

That’s it. That’s the whole standard.

It’s the same bar your grandmother’s best dishes had to pass. You don’t have a written recipe for her pot roast because she wrote it down. You have it because it was made enough times that it stuck. IAK is the same idea — except I do write it down, so you can make it too.

My most treasured recipe on the site is my braciole. My dad mentioned once, in passing, that he’d love to taste his late grandmother’s version again. I made it my mission. When I finally set it in front of him, he said it tasted just like hers. I make it every year on his birthday.

That’s what keeping a recipe really means.

Learn how the keeper standard works.

“If they ask for it again, it earns the name.”

About My Kitchen (and My Family)

I live in northeastern Pennsylvania with my husband, our son, and our cat, Bo. (We also live with two drummers. The house is loud.)

These two are the jury. They have eaten countless test batches of every recipe on this site — some great, some not so great — and they’ve never been shy about which is which. They’ve also eaten a lot of lukewarm food, because it has to be photographed first. They’re good sports.

When I’m not in the kitchen testing recipes, you’ll find me binging true crime podcasts, cheering too loudly for Penn State football, or reading a cookbook cover to cover like most people read novels. I’m also a Penn State grad, a huge spreadsheet nerd, and deeply fascinated by all things Southern — I’ve always suspected I was born on the wrong side of the Mason-Dixon line.

You May Have Seen Me

New York Times Bestselling Author

I’m also a published author — all built on the same principle as IAK: easy, foolproof, no fancy ingredients required.

Three cookbook covers aimed at beginners, including teens and college students, highlighting easy recipes and basic cooking techniques. It's a Keeper features on each cover to emphasize the reliability of the meals you'll learn to

On TV

I’m a regular guest on WNEP’s Home & Backyard — the local ABC affiliate for northeastern Pennsylvania — appearing in cooking segments throughout the year. Catch clips of past appearances on my press page.

In the Press

Featured in Taste of Home, BuzzFeed, Huffington Post, Woman’s Day, Reader’s Digest, and more. See the full press page.

Logos of various media and publishing outlets, described as "It's a Keeper".

Awards & Recognition

  • Named Best Food and Beverage Blog – NEPA BlogCon (2016)
  • Named one of the Top 25 Women in Business – NEPA Business Journal (2015)
  • Named one of the Top 20 Under 40 – NEPA Business Journal (2012)
  • Named Best Blog in 2014 – Happenings Magazine (2014)
  • Named Best Local Blog – The Weekender’s Reader’s Choice Awards (2014)
  • Named Best Local Blogger – The Electric City (2013)
  • Featured as Northeast Woman – The Scranton Times Tribune (2012)
  • Grand Prize Winner of the Williams Sonoma Easy Weeknight Meal contest (2011)
  • Past Field Editor, Taste of Home magazine
  • Past Columnist, NEPA Family Times

Speaking & Podcasts

Beyond IAK

In addition to It Is a Keeper, I also run Cake Mix Recipes — a site dedicated to the magic of shortcut baking. If you love a great dessert but don’t want to spend all afternoon making one, it’s worth a visit.

A Few Recipes I Keep Coming Back To

These are the ones I’ve made more times than I can count. If you’re not sure where to start, start here.

A Few Things You Should Know About Me

  • I am named after two of my great-grandmothers.
  • I once fell off the end of Norway. (Long story. There was a tool involved that doesn’t exist in the United States.)
  • Toast is legitimately in my top five favorite foods.
  • My favorite song is Convoy by CW McCall. Most people have never heard of it. I stand by it.
  • I have never had a mosquito bite. My mom and grandmother were the same. We don’t know why.
  • I am always, always getting lost. My dad was a walking GPS. I did not inherit that.
  • I have a deep, sincere soft spot for veterans.

Let’s Connect

I really do love hearing from readers. If you made something and it worked — tell me. If it didn’t — tell me that too. Email me at hello@itisakeeper.com.

BROWSE OUR RECIPES WATCH MY VIDEOS JOIN ME ON FACEBOOK