Tips from Mom, Julia Child, and the School of Hard Knocks...

Me, making cookies
Originally uploaded by smilingdogstudio

What my mother taught me, from a very early age, was how to cook. From scratch. And why you did things a certain way, and how to get dough off your fingers. She put love into everything and you knew it. My love of food began very young- the picture you see is me at probably around age three or four, making cookies.

On Saturdays, when other kids were watching cartoons, I was tuning in to Julia Child, who, after my mother, is my single greatest influence in the kitchen. She taught me “kitchen chemistry.” Later, it was Martin Yan and Jacques Pepin, who teamed up with my favorite chef Julia Child in later years so I could watch her again.

Now, as a mom myself, I'm using these techniques and more, learned from a life that has included cooking (lots!), college courses in clinical dietetics, restaurant ownership, and lots of life lessons learned the hard way. I hope you find some of them useful, and since I know you are wanting to get to the heart of the matter, here is my list of upcoming posts:

• Grocery Store Survival Tactics
• A Word About Mixes and Processed Foods
• Stocking Up: Pantry Staples that will Save You Money
• Kitchen Magic: Simple Kitchen Chemistry that will Change the way You Cook Forever
  
• Equipment
  
• Organization is Key
• Dinner in a Hurry: Recipes to bypass those dinner-in-a-box mixes. Make more food just as quickly and easily for less money with no additives and better flavor!
• Showing You the Dough: Did you know that making bread is a piece of cake? My sure-fire recipe that really is foolproof and ready when you are.
• ...More on the way!