My Culinary Hero's

It was long before the popularity of the the Food Network that my love affair with cooking began. My little Irish grandmother, married an Italian from Baltimore, and was instantly brought into his family and learned all of the age old recipes from this country and Sicily. My grandfather's family had been in the US over a decade and were very much assimilated into the city life. My great uncles and their children ran their very own vegetable stand at various open air markets that existed in Baltimore during the time. To this day my favorite way to spend early Saturday morning's in the spring is at the farmers market in Waverly .

The kitchen has always been the center of every home in my family. Something behind the traditions of recipes passed from generation to generation.... it's the stories and events surrounding those meals, that make them memorable. My immigrant family didn't have a lot of wealth to pass down, but the art of cooking... that was the true gift. When I was 12, my grandmother decided to teach me a new recipe every time I was over (usually Saturdays) and she and I began learning the basics of cooking. The first things I learned were basic tomato sauces as they are typically "easy" to make but require a long simmering time (for traditional, old world sauce methods) and I eventually graduated to full on dinner menu's.

My grandmother was my culinary hero...no doubt about. Not only did she come from Ireland to a new world, a new family and a much different lifestyle (imagine coming from a small farm in 1940's Ireland, to a bustling city like Baltimore)... but she had a family, and managed to be a better cook than many of the old Italian Aunts/Mothers etc that dominated her husbands world.

She taught me the importance of a good wooden spoon and an effective spatula. Only she, my mother and I can truly appreciate those kinds of treasures.