My name is Dani Rasmus Crichton.  I am a wife, mother, sister, daughter, aunt, friend, volunteer, amateur yogi, wine enthusiast, cheese fanatic, Greater Swiss Mountain Dog lover and aspiring artist who enjoys spending time with friends.  Sly Rooster is the place where I share my entertaining triumphs and mishaps, hostess tips, party ideas and recipes, galore.

In a past life, I held the title of Director of Marketing and Creative Services at Men’s Journal magazine, having worked my way through the ranks at New York magazine and Conde Nast Traveler.  While living in New York City and navigating a career in magazine publishing, I developed a taste for “the best.”  The best bagels (Ess-a-Bagel), best quality sushi deal (Haru: 2 tuna, 2 yellowtail, 2 salmon nigiri and a tuna roll for $17.95), best bar scene (Wednesday nights at the Telephone Bar), best hotel in the world (a tie between Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong and The Peninsula, Beverly Hills), best falafel (Mamoun’s), best linen shop (Schweitzer), best Sunday afternoon hangout (Miss Ellie’s Homesick Bar & Grill)…you get the point.  I was the friend you’d call when looking for the perfect place to take a date or choosing a Caribbean holiday.

Fast forward to 2000 when I fell in love with my now-husband, Gary, left everything I knew and moved to Washington, D.C.  In rapid succession I gave birth to child #1, #2 and #3 but in the interim managed to set up a marketing consulting business and alas, child #4, Sly Rooster was born.  I often get asked “Sly Rooster?” and my answer is not short.  You see, in my early 20’s I dreamed of forming a funk band and calling it Sly Rooster. Bear in mind that if you discount the two years of forced piano lessons between the ages of 9-11, there is absolutely nothing musical about me and my likelihood of forming a band was -1,000.  But there it was, Sly Rooster. When making that move to D.C. and setting my sites on consulting, my entrepreneurial husband insisted that I establish a sole proprietorship and make things official.  He was thinking “tax purposes” but I got carried away with logo design and stationary, the good stuff.  Sly Rooster took off but eventually fizzled with the demands of mothering three children under the age of 3 1/2 years.  Through it all, the “handle” stuck and I am warmly greeted with a “Hey, Sly Rooster!” by a different friend, each and everyday.

Now that my children are settled in elementary and middle school and I have a little more time, I’ve been trying to answer that elusive “what’s next?”  I realized that there’s no turning back so why not take this opportunity to redefine and refocus.  I didn’t have to think long and hard to come up with what I am most passionate about.  Anyone who knows me knows that the answer is food.  I love reading about it, trying different things, cooking new recipes, throwing fun parties–big and small.  I relish the chaos of happy kids racing through the house while a group of adults congregate in the kitchen. I enjoy hosting sit-down dinners by candlelight.  I am happiest when Gary’s manning the grill and I’m serving platters of the summer’s finest fruits and vegetables.  This is what I am passionate about and what I needed to share.

With that revelation, Sly Rooster evolved from infancy to adolescence and morphed into “Musings of a Sly Rooster.”  I started to blog, as I hope you will read in my first post, originally with no intention.  If there is a step before dipping one’s toe in the water, that was what I was doing.  I picked it up and put it down.  “Maybe this wasn’t practical,” I told myself, and went looking for something that was.  In the end, I circled back around to my “Musings” because I found myself thinking about it all the time.  These days, I can actually feel the promise in, “Do something you love and the rest will follow.”  I am thrilled to share my life in “Musings of a Sly Rooster.”  I may be in that awkward, gangly stage, trying to figure out what posts are most interesting, where to find more followers and how to navigate the world of social media, but I truly enjoy writing, cooking and entertaining and hope you will follow me as Sly Rooster continues to grow.

UPDATE: It’s been a hot minute since I wrote my bio above (spoiler alert: kids are now in high school and college!) and I’ve been cooking up to a few projects of my own. I started working as a food consultant to a couple of local gourmet markets. I advised these businesses on recipes, concepts, took a brief stint in the kitchen as Executive Chef, did some catering and became something of a cheesemonger. With my passion for buying, tasting and sharing delicious artisanal cheese in full swing, I launched Sly Rooster Cheese as a way to share my cheese and charcuterie creations with a broad audience. With a Thanksgiving holiday launch behind me and Christmas/New Year’s fast approaching, my social media presence has taken a back seat. Early 2021, you can expect to find a website but until then check out Sly Rooster Cheese on Instagram @slyroostercheese and feel free to email me at dani@slyrooster.com for more information.