WOODRIDGE, NY — Cat Wilson is self-proclaimed “mildly obsessed” with food. She has worked at restaurants and farms, so when her friends who are in the film and TV business suggested she make a TV cooking show, she jumped at the chance.

The first step? Coming up with a title. They went through a few ideas and finally came up with the one that stuck: “Cat’s Catskill Cooking,” which Wilson said was the “most descriptive.” Wilson and her friends borrowed a camera and shot the pilot. Now, they are working on creating 10 more episodes and growing the project to a professional high quality. To do this, they recently launched an Indie GoGo campaign to raise $5,000. The campaign will close on March 20, and as of press time it has raised $100. To see the promotional video (with Wilson talking to her chickens) and to donate, go to www.indiegogo.com/projects/cat-s-catskill-cooking.

“We’re trying to make a higher quality production because we’re getting so much positive support from the community, so we’re like, ‘let’s put some effort into the real thing,’” Wilson said. Her crew includes Bernd “Chip” Woloszczak (producer), Russell Bryan (main camera), Michael Amore (lighting/electric/manager) and Michael Schmidt (camera). They are all from Sullivan County.

The episodes will stream on YouTube and there will be a new one each week. “It’s a combination of my passion for local food and cooking, and also my friends and I watch a lot of YouTube shows,” Wilson said of how “Cat’s Catskill Cooking” came about. Right now they are still in the planning stages and want to wait until the summer season to start shooting because, of course, there isn’t much growing on local farms during the winter. Visiting the farms also will be an integral part of the show. Wilson said she wants to go to the farm and interview the farmers for each episode. Although, she jokes, “I have a farmer friend that would rather me film his vegetables than him.” She will then highlight the farm’s products in a recipe she will make on the show (shot in her kitchen in Woodridge). For instance, for the pilot episode she made gluten-free buttermilk waffles using Tonjes buttermilk and Diehl’s maple syrup. She will also visit local artisans, producers and potters.

Wilson has cooked in restaurants since she was 15. She has worked at steak houses, vegetarian places, fine dining establishments and diners, or “everywhere” as Wilson says. Currently she is a sous chef at Rolling River Cafe in Parksville and worked on Truss Bridge Farm in South Fallsburg from 2011 and 2013. “I love cooking for people,” Wilson said. “I didn’t think I would be a chef, I wanted to be a musician, which I still do in my free time. But it has become one of the most fulfilling things in my life to cook for people, and I wanted to share that.”

Before coming to Sullivan County, she worked as a nanny and also went to college. Now she is 27 years old and has been in Sullivan County full-time for five years. She said she was a vegetarian for years and became interested in where her food comes from, and then she got into the local food movement and now into growing her own food. She says the goal of the cooking show is to “promote the local foods and artisans of Sullivan County” and to “connect people to the food in the area.”

For more information or if you want your farm or local product featured on the show, you can email catscatskillcooking@gmail.com.