Hello and welcome to Spork Tales.
My name is Mia Collins, and this site is where I bring together two of my lifelong passions: storytelling and food.
Childhood Memories and the Humble Spork
I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, in a working-class neighborhood where meals were often simple but always meaningful. My dad worked long shifts at the steel mill, and my mom juggled two jobs, so a lot of our meals came from quick fixes or whatever we could pull together. I still remember the plastic sporks we used at school lunches—something about their practicality stuck with me. They weren’t fancy, but they got the job done. That’s where the name Spork Tales comes from: the idea that food doesn’t have to be extravagant to carry a great story.
As a kid, I spent hours watching my mom cook big Sunday dinners—roasts, casseroles, and pies that seemed to feed half the neighborhood. Those Sundays taught me that food had a way of gathering people, of slowing down life for just a little while.
A Life on the Road
In my twenties and thirties, I worked as a journalist. My job took me across the country and, eventually, around the world. I covered small-town fairs where I tasted the best fried dough of my life, wrote features from Italy where every street corner smelled like garlic and fresh bread, and even spent a summer in Japan learning about the beauty of ramen culture.
No matter where I went, I realized food was the one thread tying people together. In bustling cities or quiet rural towns, a shared meal always seemed to break down barriers. I carried a notebook everywhere, scribbling not just about what I ate, but about the people who made it, the traditions they preserved, and the stories behind every bite.
The Turning Point
By the time I hit my forties, I was ready to slow down. The pace of journalism was relentless, and I wanted a way to merge my love of writing with the joy food had always brought me. That’s how Spork Tales was born: a place where I could finally share the stories behind the dishes that shaped me, and hopefully inspire others to see food as more than just fuel.
The name represents my philosophy: food doesn’t have to be glamorous to be meaningful. Just like a spork is a humble tool, food is a humble but powerful way to connect us all.
What You’ll Find Here
At Spork Tales, I share more than recipes—I share experiences. You’ll find:
- Travel-inspired dishes I’ve learned along the way, from Spanish paella to Japanese ramen.
- Comfort foods that remind me of home—meatloaf, pot roast, and hearty stews that warm the soul.
- Stories behind the recipes, because I believe the “why” matters just as much as the “how.”
- Reflections on food culture, exploring how meals tell the history of a place and its people.
I want this site to feel less like a cookbook and more like a conversation—a collection of tales where every recipe has a heartbeat and every flavor has a backstory.
Looking Ahead
My goal with Spork Tales is simple: to celebrate the human side of cooking. I want you to see food not only as something to eat but as something to feel, remember, and share. Maybe you’ll try one of my recipes, or maybe you’ll just walk away with a story that makes you smile. Either way, I hope you’ll find a piece of yourself in these tales, just as I’ve found pieces of myself in kitchens all around the world.
So, welcome to Spork Tales. Pull up a chair, grab a spork if you’d like, and join me in discovering the incredible stories that food has to tell.
With gratitude,
Mia Collins
