In Your Flavor ~ About Me

Hi there!  Come on in and make yourself at home in my kitchen.  My kitchen is my "happy place" where you are welcome to sample some of my very favorite recipes.  They are ever evolving and have grown to a unmanageable staggering number of "tried and true" recipes in the 45 years that I have been collecting recipes from old newspapers, magazines, Internet, cookbooks (antique & modern), and more recently, Pinterest. I'm a very eclectic cook and meals are rarely boring at our house.  My husband, #1 Guinea Pig, is one of my biggest fans and also one of my biggest critics.  Since his retirement, he enjoys helping me hunt for new recipes that he thinks look good and has even started to learn to cook for himself by helping out as my sous chef.  Our two sons and our daughter-in-law are also very accomplished in the kitchen and they are often braver than I am when it comes to tackling a difficult dish.

I wish that I could say that I learned to enjoy the art of cooking from my mother but that would simply make my brother and sister snort with disbelief.  Mom was not known for her culinary expertise and although she did teach me a few kitchen basics and made a few treasured family favorites, for the most part, she avoided the kitchen.  Her go to meal plan was pretty much dinner by can opener.

My interest in cooking did not spark until I was in college and worked for my university's food service helping the cooks in my dormitory kitchen.  It was there I learned the wisdom of "mise en place", although they never used that term for the preparatory work they routinely did everyday.

Our university was the site for the food service chef training center and I was fortunate enough to be allowed to sit in on a few of the classes at no charge.  I will never forget the class on making Beef Wellington or the heaven I found at first bite.  The realization that I had the capability to prepare such gourmet meals for myself and my husband propelled me on a journey that I still travel today.  Nearly 45 years later, I am still learning new things as I continue to deepen my love affair with fine food in all of its cultural diversity.