About Me
I started my Journey Through Food and Wine like so many
youngsters-by eating. I spent a lot of time in the kitchen because I was raised
by a “family” who loved food, cooked amazing food and celebrated the traditions
of food. I have early memories of sitting on the kitchen floor noshing on
wooden spoons, getting into kitchen cabinets in the days before child locks and
teething on pizza crust.
I was raised in a non-traditional family environment. My Mom
is from New Jersey and she was raised in a neighborhood that had a large
Italian population. She moved to California with 7 of her closest friends from
high school when she was pregnant with me and my “family” became an impressive
conglomeration of close friends of my Mom who truly raised me as a group. My Mom
was a single Mom who dedicated her entire life to my entertainment and
happiness and I was her little “treasure,” tagging along on every
adventure…food related and otherwise.
My food education started early as I was eating exotic foods
from a young age. Being a child of the 1970’s I was treated like a young adult,
which included eating off of adults plates and exploring ethnic cuisine with
the best of them. My “family” opened the first pizza restaurant in Humboldt
County, Eureka to be exact, a small town in Northern California. It was common
practice for me to wander the restaurant or hang out with the chefs by the pizza
ovens while my Mom worked her shift as a waitress.
My love of food was evident in my young physique as I had
cheeks (on my face) the size of very large meatballs and had nicknames that
reflected my impressive appetite such as “spaghetti bender” and “pumpkin face.”
I was always teased about storing food in my cheeks for winter like a squirrel.
I even went as far as putting a pea up my nose at one point, probably in case I
got hungry later. All of my nicknames were expressed with love and were reflections
of the fact that I had creases and rolls in all of the right places.
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| Helen enjoying a glass of wine in Italy |
I also have to give special recognition to Helen Aronoff,
who was my Mom’s food mentor and my savior. She taught my Mom how to make the
most amazing Italian food and I was raised with the smell of homemade marinara
sauce cooking on the stove for hours, fresh pizza coming out of the oven and
cheesy lasagna that I still dream of. Helen is no longer with us, but she was
the quintessential “food Grandma,” who made everything from scratch, made
everything with love and found so much peace and happiness in the kitchen. She
really shared those traditions with my Mom, and those traditions were passed
down to me as well.
I learned from a young age that food was a demonstration of
love. The act of cooking for someone was truly an act of love, a way to nourish
and nurture. Every holiday as a child was filled with elaborate food explorations.
Christmas Eve was all about an amazing Italian seafood feast, Halloween was
about pumpkin pie, and Thanksgiving was
about meatless meatloaf.
I also forgot to mention that I was raised as a vegetarian.
So I knew, oh too well, the joys of tofurkey. Yes, a tofu turkey. My birthday
cakes were nasty and hard as a rock when made with fake sugar. Organic
vegetables were served well before it was a fad. So I look back now and I
recognize that my Mom was very much ahead of her time. But back in the day all
I wanted was a “real” cake with sweet frosting.
All through my formative years I was tasked with trying
whatever was on the table. So I was no stranger to food exploration. I had my
first raw oyster before I could drive a car, my favorite food at the age of 5
was breaded scallops, I had my first cocktail at the age of 3…inadvertently
after stealing someone’s glass of champagne from a low laying coffee table. I
recognize now that I was spoiled because I had fresh crab with melted butter
every year after we set up our Christmas tree. I didn’t know what take-out
pizza was, as all of my pizza was homemade, including the crust. I had fresh
pasta before I had it from the box and my favorite dessert as a child, and well
actually still to this day, is a fresh
cannoli.
Sure, I went through that junk food phase through high
school and college just like every other kid. However, mine was different as I
had my first Burger King hamburger when I was 14. I fell in love with cheese
sauce out of a can, tater tots dipped in mayo and ketchup and jelly beans,
because I could. I also became a 911 Police/Fire Dispatcher to get through
college. So my junk food phase consisted of takeout tacos to get me through all
the night shifts and every type of caffeinated beverage known to man-frozen
cokes, Redbulls and black tea.
However, that phase was short lived because when you are
raised around amazing food it is truly in your blood. By the time I was graduating from college, I
was teaching aerobics and starting to embrace my love of cooking. Through the
years my love of food, wine and cooking has continued to develop. I love the traditions
associated with food. I love expressing my love for my friends and family
through cooking and I love experimenting and learning new things about food and
wine.
I go to bed every night with a cookbook and I read them
as if they are novels. I can spend hours in a grocery store exploring new
ingredients. I get giddy with excitement every time I get to try a new
restaurant. I love taking over people’s kitchens and cooking for them, allowing
them to sit down with a glass of wine while they talk to me and I cook and care
for them. I love having others cook for me. I love sharing a meal with people I
love and experiencing the joy and connection that can be formed by that shared
experience. I love the successes and the failures of cooking. And I love to
share my journeys with all of my readers as if we are sitting down with an
amazing meal, an incredible glass of wine and truly authentic conversation. I
share who I really am including my sense of humor, my sarcasm, my love of the
kitchen and at times my hatred when something goes VERY wrong, but through it
all I embrace the traditions of my ancestors and my family, the food trends of
today and the knowledge of what I learn every single day over my stove and
cutting board.
I am now embracing the next step in my culinary adventure. I
start culinary school next month and I look forward to sharing my new
experiences, my knowledge and my debaucles as I try to learn the professional
nature of the kitchen.
So pull up a chair, let me pour you a glass of amazing wine
and let’s talk about our journeys through food and wine.
Cheers!
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