Here is it; my food blog. As I enter a new stage in my life, I look back on where I came from, my history, and I find that it is paved with recipes, traditions and lots of experiments. I guess that is what life is, an experiment, and one's history becomes your recipe for life...okay, I am stretching the metaphors. But, for over a year now, I have wanted to write down what I love about life...my relationship with family, food, wine, traditions and my history are at the core of this desire.
I grew up in a middle class family, in a upwardly mobile blue collar community...we had a zoo, a record in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most gas stations and restaurants in a distance of a quarter mile and the best Italian bakery outside of the North End ! I was a kid in the seventies, when families were dealing with a major recession. I hate Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup to this day because of that recession.
I attended a great public high school and was fortunate enough to have home economic classes. I was lousy at sewing, but I could whip up a mean batch of cookies! Later, I became a teaching assistant at a vocational school and I was assigned to the culinary arts program...I got cooking lessons from some really cool chefs and bakers!
I have learned that food is a tie that binds...everybody eats and if you can feed people and satisify that need, they tend to look past your flaws and are open to learning more about the person who fed them. And I don't think it is a secret that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach...I married my high school sweetheart and I thank my Belgian Waffle recipe for that...wink, wink! The fact that I learned to make his mother's pasta sauce didn't hurt either!
I have developed a skill set for cooking, recipe development, menu planning, and budgeting. My philosophy on food/wine has always been, eat and drink what you like and like what you eat and drink. Not rocket science, but pretty good advice if I do say so myself. Not to trumpet my own horn too loudly, but you know that person who comes up with a pretty good idea when needed...well I am she. I have lost count of the times when people have said to me..."Now why didn't I think of that?" I don't claim to be She who shall not be named (but her initials are M[artha] S[tewart])...I love a plan and I love to make lists, but I love to let things bubble and squeak and then I tweak 'em. Mistakes happen...and you learn from them. It took me a long time to realize and appreciate that in most cases, unless something goes horribly wrong with a recipe, menu or a plan, basically, I am the only one who knows what's what! So the lemon, parsley, chive garnish didn't make it onto the Deviled Eggs with Salmon... I used just chives...it still tasted yummy!
As I continue to explore the world of cooking,culinary arts and my history , I hope you will let me share what I discover. In my recent research and some great connections through social networking, I have rediscovered folks from my past who are blazing trails in Foodie-dom or have already made their mark. I am exploring the world of food and culture blogs...there are lots of knowledgeable people in the blogosphere...and better still, funny, smart people out there writing about these things I love! I'll let you know what they've got to say too.
In the end, I guess this goes back to my roots as a high school history teacher (before MCAS), when I discovered that I could spice up some lessons on World Cultures or American History with the occasional cooking lesson. During my student teaching, I taught a group of 10th graders about pre-revolutionary American slavery and the tea and spice trade by teaching them how to make ginger bread cakes...using the recipe from Colonial Williamsburg's Raleigh Tavern...my advisor loved the lesson plan and so did the students.
I am anxious and excited to look back on my life and find those recipes, moments, traditions that stand out in my mind and heart...and re-explore them, modernizing them and sharing them with my daughters and anyone out there who might be interested. I'll keep an eye on current events, trends and food for thought as well.
As I post, please let me know what you think and of course send me any foodie scoops too! Bon Appetit!
