About me
I'm from the South, although noone thinks I'm very Southern. There is one BIG exception, and that's Southern food, particularly great pork barbecue and side dishes of the soul food variety. My grandfather was from a different South, Southern Italy. So I grew up eating my dad's heavy, meaty, tomatoey Italian dishes. I've always loved Indian food, and I made several close friends from yet another South, Southern India, in grad school. I'm not a vegetarian, although people often think I am since I'm not a big meat eater. I groove on starches. I love farmer's markets and farm stands. Fresh produce pleases me! I was married to a Brit for a long time, and I always bought a lot of British cookbooks when we traveled, so I like cooking with my food scale, especially when I bake. Although I'm more of a cook than a baker. My favorite cookbook is "Appetite" by Nigel Slater. I'm MUCH more into taste than presentation, and I prefer big bowls of delicious one-dish meals to fussy garnished things. I'd rather eat cooked vegetables than salads any day. I am obsessive in my love for oatmeal. If a menu item has any of the following ingredients, I'll probably order it, no matter what it is: avocados, caramelized onions, walnuts, ginger, roasted red peppers... When it comes to desserts, I'm VERY picky. I don't like things that are too sweet. I hate brownies. Yuck! I'd rather have a ginger snap.