Emily Clifton

I love to cook and feed people and then take photographs of them when they’re too full to run away from me.

I was born and raised in New York City and was exposed to a lot of different food cultures as a kid (though I was weirdly picky). I hated mashed potatoes but I loved kimchi. Hated fish, loved escargot. Weird, I know.

Now that we live in the Hudson Valley I love to experiment with local, seasonal produce and see what kind of Nerdy spin I can put on it. My goal is to take simple, accessible ingredients and turn them into something delicious that anyone can make, regardless of skill level. All the recipes on this site are ones that we’ve cooked and enjoyed for ourselves, our friends and our family.

In real life I’m a film/TV editor which just might be the most fun job in the world. Occasionally it can be the most annoying job in the world which is why I really appreciate it when I get to take a break and do my other favorite things which is cook, take photographs and write.

Matt Clifton

While I love great food, I don’t always have the energy to be creative in the kitchen.

A lot of the time, I feel like the dopey husband in Barefoot Contessa, always presented with something delicious at the end of the program and marveling at his wife’s prowess. Then, occasionally, I’ll leap into action at 10pm, yelling “Dammit, I’m going to make tiramisu!”.

I love making carby breakfast things – waffles, muffins, and healthier things like smoothies or chia-seed tapioca. I’m also a dessert hound; I’ve rarely met anything sweet I didn’t like. I love discovering new ways to think about and explore food and culinary methods, like taking a cheese-making or fermentation class. My nerd credentials are pretty sound, but my knife skills could always use some work.

In real life I muck around with computers but there’s almost nothing I love more than getting dirt under my fingernails in the garden.

Arya

Arya is our General Manager, Floor Cleaner and also our legal representation. (Note: we need new lawyers.) Here are a few words from her:

“ARYA 1 GUD GIRL. ARYA NOT DO THOSE GARBAGE CRIMES” (turns to camera: “LOL I DONE ALL THEM”)

OUR REAL FOOD POLICY

Most recipe sites are written by real people, and we love our food community. However, you might have noticed a trend of food articles that read as though they’ve been written by a bot … and that’s because they have. AI is increasingly being used to generate content online, including both text and images, and we don’t believe that AI-generated recipes, articles or images are the most honest way to communicate a love of food.

“Real people, real food” means that everything on this site has been developed, tested, cooked, photographed, and, eventually, eaten by us. We test our recipes because we want to make sure you get the best results from your cooking. We take all feedback seriously, and often revise a recipe when we’ve clearly got it wrong. All photographs are of real food that we’ve made.

Thank you for supporting real food!

Brand Partnerships

Nerds with Knives occasionally partners with brands and products we love; if you think your product might be a good fit with us and you’re interested in working with us or advertising on Nerds with Knives, send us an email!

We write all our own content, and cook and eat and photograph all our own food! We occasionally write for other publications, so please let us know if you’re interested in partnering on your site!

Click our media kit on the left to download our current pricing and packages for brand collaboration.

We write everything we publish on Nerds with Knives, and we don’t accept pitches for content or guest posts. Thank you for understanding!