May I have a word with the cook?

I am a mother of a beautiful baby girl -Mei, born this past January, (Can you guess for whom she was named?) and mama to a stubborn, wrinkly, chocolately ball of shar-pei who was intentionally named Patella Starscream. Patella is the anatomical name for the knee bone – yes, I am aware, as by night and cover of darkness – I am a forensic anthropologist in search of bones, teeth and an employer! Starscream is indeed a Transformer. My wonderful husband came home with a conviction one evening to name our first born child after a Transformer so he could refer to himself as the covert commander, so we compromised on the puppy’s name! It’s a perefect blend of the winds of compromise, and it means so much to both of us and confundles the British.

I LOVE cooking and enjoy watching Top Chef – I even have dreams that I make the perfect bowl of white rice for Tom Colicchio, being Japanese – I should be able to accomplish just that, but being eliminated in my season for having a dish that is too simple and undressed. Of course. But he can’t stop raving about how perfect every grain of rice is! (this is a big deal for TC watchers, knowing that 98% of the contesants overcook, undercook or somehow destroy a dish as simple as a bowl of rice).

My husband and I are constantly re-vamping our dream blueprints for the perfect kitchen (and home), which would allow me to easily create the delicious dishes that I continue to create and re-work until they can be executed with simple perfection every time and fail to be one note dishes. Each dish has a developing sense of depth and layers and layers of flavors, while maintaining their comforting integrity.

I spend my time caring for my baby girl and puppy, and the rest of the time, searching for goodness on Earth – usually in the form of food. I love to eat and eat to live – and I like to eat well, so since our move to England, I have endeavored to learn to make all the things I would like to eat. Now, I bake often – to the delight of friends, some of whom are feigning ”diets” in order to avoid the frequency with which they receive my goodies, and I cook almost every day – to the delight of my husband, who only has this to say “Mmmmmm….. !” Filling my kitchen with a variety of cookbooks that I endeavor to work through and tweak to my liking, making food that will bring people together and strengthen our family bonds, I scour kitchen stores for new and exciting tools that will allow me to create more complicated dishes – lassoing any fears of french words and techniques, introducing my family to new dishes we just can’t live without!

Our quaint kitchen in England, and the magic I create within it has inspired me to one

for all those Gilmore Girls fans!

day, move back to the United States and open the perfectly quaint, comfy, “Luke’s,” or English inspired tea house. It would have perfectly landscaped grounds, lovely, fragrant, colorful gardens, shabby chic decorated interiors with mis-matched tea sets. I might even start a tiny spoon collection just in case, this dream comes true! I could sell every type of tea that I love and keep on hand, every delicious baked morsel I have perfected and a daily, changing menu with the silky, heart warming soups and other dishes that I love to make for my growing family.

my wonderful husband, making chili!

One day soon, I will post pictures of my eager baby girl, kneeled on a stool, holding a wooden spoon in one hand, licking her finger with the other, eyeing a bowl of something we are whipping together while the kitchen fills with an overwhelming, sweet and comforting smell and the stove with a plethora of pots bubbling away as dinnertime gets closer.

In the meantime, be sure to enjoy my forthcoming blogs, in the hopes that it inspires you to try the recipes or create your own magic in whatever kitchen space you have!

Bon Apetit!