Marcy Valenzuela is not a trained chef. She’s an Emmy award-winning television journalist who just happens to love to cook. She grew up in the tiny farming town of La Mesa, in southern New Mexico. There, her mother taught her to cook from the heart, with a pinch of faith and a helping of Hatch chile.

In 2020, when the Covid pandemic kept her – and everyone else – at home, she was inspired to reach out to friends who felt isolated. She wanted them to feel as if they were invited into her home, where they could cook together and swap tried and true recipes. So she began using her television background to shoot and post cooking videos from her kitchen. Before long, and with the help of her husband (a network television cameraman), she launched her own YouTube cooking channel called “Marcy Inspired.” Together, Marcy and her husband now produce high-quality cooking videos once a week. “My favorite recipes are ones that have been passed on through generations; ones that never came in written form, but that instantly take you back to your childhood,” says Marcy. “My goal is to make these wonderful recipes accessible to everybody.”