I was early to good eating--I grew up in New Orleans, and when my grandfather came to visit, he would take us to Arnaud's Restaurant where I fell in love with trout meuniere and souffles pommes de terres. But I was late to cooking--my mom didn't like having help in her kitchen. My early influences were a college professor who gave me a recipe for a giant empanada that takes all day to make, and cousins who loved to cook and entertain--where I learned to make fresh pasta (so much fun), and to bake, primarily using Maida Heatter's cookbooks. (Now they have chocolate stains inside of them.) I read cookbooks for fun. As much as I enjoy cooking (and baking), I'm limited by time (who isn't?), watching my weight (ditto), occasionally thinking that I should REALLY be a vegetarian, and a husband who doesn't like a lot of the things I like to cook with (and eat): strong cheeses (think goat, feta, parmesan), mustard, capers, artichokes, yogurt, olives, any pork products (except, as he puts it, his annual bacon), and who thinks that a protein shake made with chocolate soy milk or a Zone Bar is an adequate meal. Since I've joined Food52, I've learned so much about techniques, flavors, different spices, and how to make life more delicious. I started coming to this website to find some new recipes, and I feel as if I've made a bunch of new friends.
- What is the strangest food you have ever eaten?
- It depends on your definition of strange. Aren't Cheetos strange? Canned asparagus? Cocoa krispies? I've eaten those things and I think they're strange.
- What do you cook when home alone?
- When I'm home alone, I eat like a vegetarian--salads, lentils, lots of vegetables and fruit. And I bake. A lot.
- Your most treasured kitchen possession:
- A rolling cart that I keep in a closet--it has all my baking things on it.
- The ideal number of guests for a dinner party is:
- 4 (besides us) at my current house, but we've made it work with 8.
