Cilantro

It all happens in the kitchen for me...I can revisit some of my best childhood memories there. I can revisit my childhood in Rio Grande, PR as a young girl growing up in a small barn and taking care of chickens, baby chicks, pigs, and so forth...well you name it. I would wait for my parents to come home from work and cook an indoor or outdoor meal with ease and share their homecooking with our neighbors. The introduction to the value of sharing came simply to me as a child, the idea was...where two ate, three could eat comfortably. When I was seven years old I made my first pot of rice (an essential in Puerto Rican cooking). It brought me joy, not only because I made it but because of how my family enjoyed it and praised me for what seemed at the time, a grand accomplishment for a seven year old. Its my passion, creating and plating a dish in my opinion, is never a cliche. I can bring different flavors together. Cooking is my way of revisiting a certain time and place whether it be my childhood or a restaurant that I had a beautiful meal at with my husband. There's always a great memory in it for me...I'd like to think its had that effect on a couple of members in my family who also find their passion in life is bringing smiles to family and friends through their joy for baking and cooking. It all happens in the kitchen for me...being creative and bringing some of my "Food For Thought" dishes to a culinary reality.