I live in Austin, Texas with my husband and teenage son. My father
was a career Air Force man, so I grew up all over the world, Iceland,
Panama, Germany, California, Texas, Nevada, Arizona. My mother, who
is Italian, was a fabulous cook and homemaker. No matter where we
lived, I could smell my mom's cooking as I walked home from school. It
meant love, family, friends, home.
My mom had eight brothers and sisters. She was only five years old
when her mother died. Growing up during the Depression, they learned
to not only make do with what they had but to have fun with it.
Whether it was peasant food like polenta or Sunday dinner with pot
roast or chicken cacciatore.
I love to get in the kitchen after work and cook. I get a lot of
pleasure and satisfaction from creating the meal, whether its
something from a special new recipe or just going through the pantry
and improvising.
