My love affair with food began at a young age (see above). I had a family who loved food and all that went with it from the experimentation to the tradition to the celebration of it. I had a Mom who was obsessed with the 70's health food culture which added an interesting and sometimes disgusting flair to my early food memories. And I had a voracious appetite and I was willing to try anything at least once.

I have amazing childhood food memories starting with my white baby food mill in which my Mom would  grind up every vegetable known to man so I could eat it. This was especially important as I did not get my first tooth until 11 months. Not the easiest start for a self proclaimed food aficionado. My memories grew along with my teeth. I was raised a vegetarian (with the exception of fish) until my high school years when I could discover a Whopper on my own-the rest was history. I never asked my Mom why the fish exception-was it based on a need for protein or her disdain for fish which led to her ability to kill them without thought? So I remember amazing "vegetarian" food from homemade pizza to lasagna to meatless meatloaf (recipe to follow at Thanksgiving as it took the place of turkey in my home).

My family is one in which no one was actually related. Remember it was the 70's so my Mom and approximately 10 of her closest friends traveled from New Jersey to a small town in the middle of no where called Eureka, CA. Sure it was in Humboldt County and I am sure that had some impact on their destination decision making however they made it home and started their own "family." So growing up my "family" was a random array of aunts and uncles who all grew up in NJ, lived in Eureka and shared a love of good food, amazing wine and fun times (I am sure those were probably enhanced by the location and the era). They grew up in an Italian neighborhood and actually they were pretty much all Italian with the exception of my Mom-another question I should ask one of these days. But they brought some amazing food traditions with them to the west coast that were passed down from generation to generation and allowed me to experience some amazing Italian food-mozzarella, cannolis and homemade marinara sauce that sat on the stove for hours.

They developed my palette for food and for this I am forever grateful....

I did briefly take a hiatus from my food love affair during my teenage years. We will call those the dark years as unfortunately my obsession with remaining thin and petite took over my true passion. However, by my mid 20's I started to find myself again...and more...as I discovered the art of cocktails, the depth of good wine and the unspeakable joy of pairing the perfect glass of wine with the most complimentary food.

Now in my mid 30's...ack mid 30's...I have become completely obsessed with all things food. I love to cook and have found that its an amazing creative outlet and one of the biggest ways I de-stress. I have a day job that is full of challenges, personnel issues and politics. However, there is nothing better than coming home and tackling a new recipe and then sitting down with my loved one and sharing a bottle of wine, home cooked food and great conversation. Living in So Cal I have discovered the immense pleasure that is possible from trying new restaurants. I keep a list of restaurants on my iphone that I want to try yet it seems to be constantly growing and I can't get caught up.

Also being in my mid 30's I have discovered that hang overs happen more frequently than in my 20's therefore other than the random cocktail once in a while I am purely a wine fan. I love traveling to new wineries, trying different tasting rooms and just the random pleasure of picking up a bottle of wine you know nothing about and being pleasantly surprised by the complexity of its flavor.

I started this blog to share my passion with my friends and family, to learn from others, pass on my experiences and places to try or stay away from and to continue to find outlets for ways to truly express a side of me that I don't get to be during the day. Hope you all have as much fun with it as I do writing it and living it. I am now off to try and make Asian Chicken Noodle Soup. Good night!