I have always been passionate about food. As a small child, my favorite toys were a Fisher Price kitchen set, and my Easy-Bake-Oven (which I often used to make brownies in my room when I was grounded!) At weddings, I was the child photographed by the cake, impatiently waiting for the couple to slice into it so I could have a taste.
In middle school, I already had a subscription to Martha Stewart living, and felt so inspired, that I decided to tackle my first thanksgiving at just 11 years old. My parents always encouraged my love for cooking and baking. My father started and owned a bakery, and I have many fond memories of him bringing home beautiful loaves of bread, as well as being an eager taste tester for any new baked goods they were trying out.
My mother full-heartedly supported my passion, and always made a fun game out of going to the grocery store. She’d pick me up after school and allow me to select the ingredients for whatever dishes I felt inspired to make that week—something we still enjoy doing to this day whenever we’re together.
I remember in high school telling my parents I wanted to go straight to culinary school, but they insisted I get a college degree first. So, after attending a traditional four year college, I got a job working in one of the best kitchens in Boston before pursuing culinary school in London. After spending a full year cooking, baking and eating my way through London, I graduated with a degree in Patisserie and Baking, tearfully bid London farewell, and began a new culinary path in Southern California.
I was lucky enough to land a food editorial gig working for a local magazine in Orange County, met my husband two years later, changed careers briefly, got married, had babies, and now I am a stay-at-home mom to two beautiful boys. Through all the twists and turns though, one thing has remained the same—my love for food.
With the stressors and monotony that come with being a stay-at-home mom, I realized more than ever how important it is to continue nurturing those passions I adored so much before having little people attached to my hip 24/7 (don't get me wrong, I love my children and being a mom, but you other SAHMoms will understand my plight!). I needed to find an outlet for myself. Something that brought me joy on a different level and allowed me to escape into what I was doing. For me, cooking and baking was and still is the answer.
My passion for cooking and baking came in handy even more so since having kids. Not only are there more mouths to feed, but my husband and I quickly realized that our days of sporadic date nights were pretty much gone. To keep things special, we started planning “date nights” at home. I would plan a menu, and we’d find a way to distract our children so we could hopefully have one, uninterrupted hour to ourselves to enjoy a delicious and even romantic meal. It has been one of our greatest joys (besides our children) and has turned out to be, dare I say it, more fun, rewarding and affordable than going out.
I finally had another reason to start rifling through the cookbooks on my counter that have been doing nothing more than collecting dust. With that, came the idea to start a blog and document our delicious home-cooked journey. I’ve always admired looking at posts of delicious and beautiful dishes, desserts and cocktails, and with a new year ahead of us, I decided it’s time to give it a go and create my own. So here goes—I present you with my very first of many posts to come!
I hope they inspire you to have your own dates at home, and re-kindle your passion for cooking and baking (or simply give you something to drool over!) Cheers to happy cooking, eating and whatever brings you joy!
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