Three months into a whirlwind romance with a celebrity chef, free spirit Alyssa Shelasky said good-bye to her life in New York and followed her heart to Washington, D.C. But she found that between her inability to settle into her new surroundings and her boyfriend-turned-fiancé's insane hours, she was overwhelmingly lonely. Plus, she was a kitchen-phobe surrounded by foodies and unable to make toast without a pep talk or boil water without instructions. So she decided it was time to conquer the kitchen.