I thought it best to start my journey by giving you a little background. I come from a very large Italian family. Although both of my parents are Italian I was born in Belgium and I have lived in Canada for most of my life. My parents had nine children, five boys and four girls. I am the eighth child. I have twenty one nieces and nephews and ten great nieces and nephews with one little girl on the way (May 2010). I have two children of my own, my daughter Liana (18) and my son Matthew (16). I am so proud of them and the people they have become. I love them dearly, they always come first and always will. I wonder where the time has gone, it seems like yesterday that I was changing diapers. Liana is in her first year of University. She is working towards a medical degree and hopes to work in the area of criminology. She would like to study the mind of a serial killer. She has settled well into University life and is working very hard. Liana is my artist, she is a painter and photographer. She has created so many beautiful pieces of art, a talent she definitely didn't get from me. She is very reluctant to put her art on display but I am hoping with a little coaxing she will photograph the dishes I create for the blog. Matthew is beginning his second semester of 11th grade. Matthew is my athlete. His sport of choice is football, his position, wide receiver, although his coach has him play not only offense but defense. How he manages to play the entire game without keeling over with exhaustion is beyond me. He plays for his High School team and also a competitive city league. He is hoping to play for his University of choice in the future. Matt keeps me on my toes, he is my social butterfly. He has decided to pursue a career in Law.
I can't remember one family gathering that didn't centre around food. From a very early age I watched enthusiastically as my Grandmother and Mother created mouth watering dishes in any one of our three kitchens (yes three kitchens). The basement kitchen was for canning our tomatoes and mixing, kneading and creating homemade pasta and bread. The main kitchen was mainly used for cooking the bulk of our meals and the upstairs kitchen was used for mainly baking the balance of the loaves of bread that didn't fit in the other two ovens. I can still remember walking home from school to the aroma of baking bread, getting home and slicing a large piece of bread (always the end piece) with the steam escaping and slathering it with nutella, what an amazing taste!
During my childhood I remember my parents tending to their vegetable and fruit gardens. My father was always in the yard tending to his grape vines and peach trees. I don't think I will ever forget the taste of a freshly grown peach just picked from the tree or grapes just picked from the vine. We had so many different rituals. I remember sitting in the lawn chair shelling beans, snipping ends from green beans and preparing them for blanching and eventually freezing. Late August, early September I remember getting in the car and going to the farms and picking endless bushels of tomatoes for canning. We preserved the tomatoes in two ways, tomato pieces and tomato puree, the base for our Tomato Sauce. In October we would start the wine making, white and red. I can still see my father in the garage turning the press. If there were any grapes left from our own vines my father would make a special batch of wine and my mother would make grape jelly. Today we still follow many of these traditions and this past year I decided that I would do my own blanching and freezing. I froze quite a bit of the summer harvest, beans, green beans and Ontario sweet corn. I made jam (strawberry, blueberry, raspberry and cherry jelly), I froze strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and cherries to use in baking and to use in the making of coulis and sauces. I made blueberry and cherry pie filling. I also decided to try my hand at cherries in brandy, peaches in peach schnapps and amaretto, and blueberries in peach schnapps. They are fantastic, the taste is amazing. There is nothing better than the taste of fresh fruits and vegetables.
I found when I was concentrating on my career food and cooking seemed to take a back seat in my life. Don't get me wrong I still loved to cook but I just didn't have the time to do the little extras or really take the time to try new things. Seven years ago my life took a turn, I was not able to work due to an injury and a year after that my husband passed. I found I had all this time and didn't know what to do with myself. The love of food has taken me in a new direction. I found I was starting to buy all these cookbooks, began to watch all programs associated to food, and began reading food blogs. I couldn't pass a magazine stand without purchasing Food and Wine or Bon Appetit. I started to experiment. I think I have purchased every kitchen gadget known to mankind, every small appliance from my KitchenAid Stand Mixer to a coffee grinder (used for spices). I invested in some very good cookware (All-Clad and Le Creuset), I bought my very first set of good knives (Wusthof), invested in good bakeware and ramekins and chef's rings. I started researching and reading about food online, I was on a roll, I was equipped to begin a new journey in the culinary world.
My journey has led me to some amazing chefs and to their paths in the culinary world. My most favourite of all chefs is Chef Gordon Ramsay. He inspires me in a way that no other has. I have read about his life and am amazed that he has achieved so much in such a short time. I think to myself if he can get where he is today with what he's had to face in life than I can too! He not only inspires me to cook but to also succeed in a path that I hadn't initial chosen for myself.
A few months ago I started thinking I would like to start a blog and chronicle my food journey but I held back because I am not all that capable on the computer but I am hoping with practice I will get better.
I have finally decided it is time, but I can't help but ask myself this question, "Will anyone follow me in my journey?" I can't promise that I won't make mistakes along the way but I can promise that I will put my heart and soul into my passion for cooking and I will share what I learn along the way.
G
G
No comments :
Post a Comment