Where To Start?

I have always had a love for art, whether it's cooking, sewing, painting, pottery..... (yes cooking is art!) I learned to cook at a young age from my mother and aunts (first generation Italians). When I first married we lived in a small trailer in the wooded area off Auburn-Black Diamond Road in Western WA, I had to be fairly creative with ingredients like ham hocks and beans. A budget of twenty dollars a week for food was common and dining out was rare. As time went on and our budget and family grew, we began to experience new culinary adventures and we were hooked.

One of the things I love the most is cooking all day long for friends or family and seeing them sitting down, loving the the food and enjoying themselves. Or traveling to a new town and finding their best restaurants. They don't have to be fancy. Hot Doug's in Chicago is one of my favorites! A recent trip to Italy along with my children's (and their spouse's) dietary voyages (with being vegetarian, lacto-ovo pescitarian, eating only humanely treated animals, mostly carnivore and vegan) have expanded my culinary endeavors.

What's in the future? We are currently building a wood fired pizza oven in the back yard and hoping for many pizza gatherings with friends and family. The picture below is somewhat similar to our plan. We have brought back some tiles from Italy and hope to place them on the structure somewhere.

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/im ages /gizmodo/2009/08/pompeii_oven.jpg

In the midst of the pizza oven I will be (with the help of many sous chefs)  preparing a celebratory feast for my sister-in-law Kathe's  retirement party in June. Maybe up to 100 people.!!!  Menu planning has begun and will keep you updated. 

Shortly after Kathe's party we are planning to remodel our kitchen and the cooking will be done in our spare bedroom and the BBQ! We were hoping to have the pizza oven ready but the weather has not cooperated.