As a child, I grew up watching and assisting my mother cook in out NY home. I was my mother's little helper. She was basically a scratch cooker. We were a typical Italian family that followed the traditions especially at the holidays. That's when my mother went into overdrive. The weeks before the holidays the preparation had begun, she was amazing. She always prepared more than enough for the dinners, and gave many baked goods away as gifts. I saw her passion and joy from cooking. I took an early retirement package in 1993 and went to the Culinary Institute of America in NY. From there I could feel the passion and joy that my mother felt and I knew I had made the right choice to change my career. That career change afforded me to live and teach in Switzerland and live in China as a Consultant to the Wine industry. Now I am back in the USA and working on my Italian baking skills. Nona is the closest to my mom's way.
