This blog started about 3 months after losing my father to a seven year battle with Alzheimer’s. I was neck deep in grief and needed an outlet.
I grew up cooking. There was always a lot of love and laughter at our dinner table growing up; along with great food. It became a huge part of who I am and how I express myself. I cook because I love. I had always enjoyed cooking, but it was a duty, an obligation, a task. When my father became so ill, it changed to something far deeper. My mother needed help and the way I made their lives a little easier was by creating feasts. I would watch him smile as I’d lay down a plate in front of him, beaming up at me as if I’d given him a slice of heaven.
It’s taken some time for me to figure out that this was born not of loss, but love.
Food is how we express the depth of our caring. In any culture, in any cuisine, the heart of a home and its family is the table. I come from a long line of creative home cooks. I learned from some of the most fearless cooks I’ve ever seen, my father and my grandmother.
I have no formal training and if you put me, toe to toe, in an Iron Chef competition, I’d do what any sensible home chef would do. I would make a smoke screen out of flour, grab the nearest bottle of wine and hide in the walk in freezer until everybody went home.
My recipes are original and if they have been inspired by someone, I always give credit. I work full time locally and spend my weekends like a mad scientist – creating in the kitchen. Thankfully, I’m blessed to have an army of taste testers who inspire me to do more, do better, work harder, and spread joy where I can.
I’m obsessed with Wegman’s and British television. I’m a poster child Capricorn and all that entails. I’m a complete Ina Garten/Julia Child/Jacques Pepin/Ruth Reichl devotee and my absolute hero is José Andrés. My favorite haunts are Williams Sonoma, any cheese section, all libraries and my kitchen. Life is too short for anything other than kissing the guy, drinking the wine, telling or laughing at the dirty joke or even better – both, and eating the dessert. I plan on sliding into the gates of heaven like I just scored the winning goal at my last soccer game when I was seventeen. Sweaty, messy, red faced, laughing and proudly brazenly me.
I live in New Jersey with my husband, Magilla, my moody dog and two rescue kittens, named after pirates that my husband found. I believe that cooking is love and love is what we could all use a little more of. Some of the greatest compliments I receive are the little notes of appreciation that my recipe made its way into your home and you shared it with your loved ones.
So with love…I hope you find something you want to bring to your table.
xoxo,
-S-
