My interest in cooking began at the age of 16, soon after I was asked to take a part-time job to assist the Italian cook at a rectory in Queens, NY. I didn’t know much about working in a kitchen, but quickly learned how to wash and prepare vegetables, put together a variety of salads, maintain food storage areas, and wash pots and pans! I also gained a true appreciation of how, with the right technique, raw ingredients were transformed into delicious meals.
I would’ve happily assisted the cook until she retired, but after a few years I moved to the Bronx to study Biology at Manhattan College. So, I began to prepare food for myself in the small one bedroom apartment that I shared with 3 friends. The aroma of home cooking would fill the apartment and find its way into the hallway, welcoming old and new friends to take a break from schoolwork and share a meal together.
Upon graduating from college, I studied Medical Nutrition Sciences at Boston University and the Culinary Arts at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City. I have enjoyed working as a recipe tester/developer and food stylist for various national magazines, such as EveryDay with Rachael Ray and Parents, and cookbooks, like Slim & Scrumptious by Joy Bauer and Cooking for Isaiah by Silvana Nardone. In August 2012, I completed my dietetic internship at Yale-New Haven Hospital and have been working as a registered dietitian since early 2013.
After many years of not posting on this blog and a very stressful pandemic, I’ve decided to use this space again as a simple journal, entitled “Delicious & Grateful”.