I love everything food … the planning, looking, gathering, chopping, cooking, breathing in the aromas, pairing it with wine, savoring each bite, and most of all, presenting it to my friends and loved ones.
It’s funny how I came to love food, as it wasn’t always so. I remember being the last one at the dinner table every night, forced to sit there until I had eaten every miserable morsel (or at least hidden every miserable morsel in my napkin). My mother was an Irish meat and potatoes kind of cook. She cooked everything into submission. Meat was cooked until every drop of juice had been drained from it, more resembling my leather sole than a steak. It would be years before I realized roast beef wasn’t supposed to be grey and tough. To be fair, she had to cook for my father, my four older brothers and me, and it was an era not known for sophisticated food and palates.
She was a wonderful baker though, and that is how I began my culinary adventures. Dragging up a stool so that I could get my little, grubby hands in everything, most likely driving her crazy. A drop of cookie dough here, a roll of a pie crust there, I soon became an accomplished baker, not fancy, but good.
It wasn’t until high school that I ventured into cooking. My best friend and I needed an idea for a French class project. We decided to make a French dinner for our teacher. A trip to the library later, we were pouring over Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I remember the menu to this day: French Onion Soup, Beef Bourguignon, and Tarte Normande aux Pommes (Custard Apple Tart) for dessert ... quite an undertaking for two sixteen year old girls that had never prepared an entire dinner before. Each course was tastier than the previous … it was delicious, we got an A, and I was hooked.
Through my college years and beyond I took pleasure in hosting dinner parties and experimenting with new foods and cooking techniques. A few years back, while living and working in the Los Angeles area, I went to culinary school at night. There my eyes were really opened … balsamic vinegar, porcini mushrooms, risotto … what fun! I learned so much and went from preparing good, basic food, to creating wonderful dishes.
It’s funny how I came to love food, as it wasn’t always so. I remember being the last one at the dinner table every night, forced to sit there until I had eaten every miserable morsel (or at least hidden every miserable morsel in my napkin). My mother was an Irish meat and potatoes kind of cook. She cooked everything into submission. Meat was cooked until every drop of juice had been drained from it, more resembling my leather sole than a steak. It would be years before I realized roast beef wasn’t supposed to be grey and tough. To be fair, she had to cook for my father, my four older brothers and me, and it was an era not known for sophisticated food and palates.
She was a wonderful baker though, and that is how I began my culinary adventures. Dragging up a stool so that I could get my little, grubby hands in everything, most likely driving her crazy. A drop of cookie dough here, a roll of a pie crust there, I soon became an accomplished baker, not fancy, but good.
It wasn’t until high school that I ventured into cooking. My best friend and I needed an idea for a French class project. We decided to make a French dinner for our teacher. A trip to the library later, we were pouring over Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I remember the menu to this day: French Onion Soup, Beef Bourguignon, and Tarte Normande aux Pommes (Custard Apple Tart) for dessert ... quite an undertaking for two sixteen year old girls that had never prepared an entire dinner before. Each course was tastier than the previous … it was delicious, we got an A, and I was hooked.
Through my college years and beyond I took pleasure in hosting dinner parties and experimenting with new foods and cooking techniques. A few years back, while living and working in the Los Angeles area, I went to culinary school at night. There my eyes were really opened … balsamic vinegar, porcini mushrooms, risotto … what fun! I learned so much and went from preparing good, basic food, to creating wonderful dishes.
I earned a culinary certificate, but decided to keep my day job. I do teach cooking classes and do some event planning on the side. But mostly I just enjoy preparing wonderful food for my family and friends, and appreciate a fine culinary adventure whenever I get the chance.
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