Okay, I will try to make it as short as possible- hope you are not bored by it!
I was born and raised in Minnesota where I lived (except for a few years) until my DH and I moved to Kauai.
In 1950 when I was 3, my Mom, a very gifted artist and way ahead-of-her-time home cook, had me stirring cake batter and helping to mix up recipes by her side (me standing on a chair to reach.) She had a way of making it exciting to a little kid. I created my first recipes when I was about 5 and was encouraged to try them out on the family. Awful stuff of course but the idea that I COULD create new recipes stuck and has lasted my whole life. Thanks, Mom!
Music became the the axis of my life in High School. I went to Europe with an orchestra after high school graduation and that changed my life. I saw what was out in the world and wanted more! I graduated from college and got my masters (cooking in dorm rooms in my electric popcorn popper), spent a year in London (would you believe I was the first American student teacher in England?) where, besides teaching and furthering my music education I attended classes at Cordon Bleu which triggered a cooking passion that to this day will not be snuffed. To make spending money I cooked in the basement kitchen of a little boarding house in Chelsea for those that lived there. Cleaned a few toilets too. Anything to stay!
I made my living as a musician- hah- no that is not correct. I TRIED to make my living as a musician but, as so many know, found it impossible without having a second and sometimes third job or profession. I got into retail, first working at a music store then managing for the same company. At the same time I took many cooking classes and discovered Julia Child- my Mother knew all about her and had the "Mastering" books which she was ecstatic about and knew cover to cover. Me? I was clueless until I discovered her on my own (even though I ate many JC recipes prepared by my Mom.) My passion became cooking- I still performed some but music became a listening "occupation" as the cooking took over "principal chair."
I started a catering business. First as an assistant, under the wing of a great friend and cooking teacher in Minneapolis. Once she felt confident in my abilities she "launched" me and helped me by sending me clients until I was established enough to "make it." Then she hired me to teach classes and I did. I expanded my classes and went out on my own as I found I really enjoyed teaching. All the time I was taking more and more classes myself, learning from chefs, I was even lucky enough to take master classes from Julia Child herself. It was a fluke. A lot of my life experiences were. How lucky was I! Holy cow. Standing next to the great lady herself. Heady stuff.
Somewhere in the middle of all this, my first husband and I tore up our yard and learned the French Intensive Method of gardening, went organic and grew as much of our food as we could. I learned all the early 1970s "Earth Mother" stuff- I made soap, candles, pickled everything in sight, sewed all our clothes, grew and ground wheat for flour, dyed fabrics out of natural ingredients we grew and bartered for, made wines, beer and root beer, made everything I could to make us as self-sufficient as possible (crackers, cheeses, breads, all stocks, all of it.) I canned, dried and otherwise preserved everything I could. We bartered candles, soaps, canned stuff, veggies and herbs for eggs, dairy and meat. Groovy far out? No. Man, it was HARD WORK! It was the best thing I ever did.
Interlaced with all this was a series of many jobs in many occupations. Later, after my "Earth Mother" phase but while I was still teaching and catering, I was in many job fields including being a restaurant menu consultant. I seem to throw myself full bore into whatever I grab onto so I was busy 7 days a week for years. Somewhere along the way I met and married my DH Kriss, we built a house then (typical!) decided to move to an island. Long story made short, we chose Kauai, bought a little house and moved lock, stock and barrel in January of 1988 and never looked back.
I got talked into catering a handful of times here due to a lack of the right type of caterer available (fancy food) but I chose not to expand and cater on a regular basis. Soon I "just said no" and stopped catering altogether. I held a number of positions here on Kauai in the early years, trying to find my niche. We had a devestating hurricane on Sept. 11, 1992 that clobbered the whole island. Down for the count! Typical of me, I guess, I plowed in and started a wholesale travel business that brings people to Hawaii in January of 1993. Looking back now, I wonder what on Earth was I thinking? Well, 13 years later it is going strong. Luck and a lot of hard work. In 1995 my DH and I opened an old-fashioned ice cream soda shop and expanded it shortly after that. We made homemade pies, brownies, all kinds of decadant things. We put a full kitchen in a few years later. We sold the business in Feb of 2006 and are happy to be "retired" from that crazy life.
Throughout my adult years I collected (still do) cookbooks. I have a few thousand and "purge" once in a while when the shelves get too full. My DH and I built a house (owner/builder without a contractor) 3 years ago and one of the features of it is a wall-to-wall, floor to ceiling set of built-in shelves for the entire collection. I finally have the kitchen of my dreams (I sold my professional flute and bought a commercial stove!) and a pantry the size of a big walk-in cooler.
So- here I am on Kauai, with my DH, a parrot named Phyllis and a Belgian Malinois (dog) named Zoom with almost everything in life a person could be blessed with. My health is great but I got too heavy so my project in May was to Lose The Flab and get back to my high school weight. Sigh. I blasted into the project like I seem to do everything else. I lost the weight- 75 lbs of it (95 lbs over three years)- and now am staying away from some of the delicious things that made me heavy-but I find I don't miss them for myself. I still cook a lot for others but now know my own limits and stay inside them.
My true love is old-fashioned "scratch" cooking- I don't purchase a lot of prepared foods but I am not a "food snob" and you will occasionally find things like a can of cream of mushroom soup on my counter. I love big, bold flavors and mix them up at every turn.
I very much enjoy Mimi's FK forum with my morning coffee. I love reading all the posts and feeling the enthusiasm of everyone that contributes. New cooks, experienced cooks, everyone in between. I learn things all the time, print out and save recipes almost on a daily basis. I am very happy to share any and all cooking experience I may have with all of you.
I was born and raised in Minnesota where I lived (except for a few years) until my DH and I moved to Kauai.
In 1950 when I was 3, my Mom, a very gifted artist and way ahead-of-her-time home cook, had me stirring cake batter and helping to mix up recipes by her side (me standing on a chair to reach.) She had a way of making it exciting to a little kid. I created my first recipes when I was about 5 and was encouraged to try them out on the family. Awful stuff of course but the idea that I COULD create new recipes stuck and has lasted my whole life. Thanks, Mom!
Music became the the axis of my life in High School. I went to Europe with an orchestra after high school graduation and that changed my life. I saw what was out in the world and wanted more! I graduated from college and got my masters (cooking in dorm rooms in my electric popcorn popper), spent a year in London (would you believe I was the first American student teacher in England?) where, besides teaching and furthering my music education I attended classes at Cordon Bleu which triggered a cooking passion that to this day will not be snuffed. To make spending money I cooked in the basement kitchen of a little boarding house in Chelsea for those that lived there. Cleaned a few toilets too. Anything to stay!
I made my living as a musician- hah- no that is not correct. I TRIED to make my living as a musician but, as so many know, found it impossible without having a second and sometimes third job or profession. I got into retail, first working at a music store then managing for the same company. At the same time I took many cooking classes and discovered Julia Child- my Mother knew all about her and had the "Mastering" books which she was ecstatic about and knew cover to cover. Me? I was clueless until I discovered her on my own (even though I ate many JC recipes prepared by my Mom.) My passion became cooking- I still performed some but music became a listening "occupation" as the cooking took over "principal chair."
I started a catering business. First as an assistant, under the wing of a great friend and cooking teacher in Minneapolis. Once she felt confident in my abilities she "launched" me and helped me by sending me clients until I was established enough to "make it." Then she hired me to teach classes and I did. I expanded my classes and went out on my own as I found I really enjoyed teaching. All the time I was taking more and more classes myself, learning from chefs, I was even lucky enough to take master classes from Julia Child herself. It was a fluke. A lot of my life experiences were. How lucky was I! Holy cow. Standing next to the great lady herself. Heady stuff.
Somewhere in the middle of all this, my first husband and I tore up our yard and learned the French Intensive Method of gardening, went organic and grew as much of our food as we could. I learned all the early 1970s "Earth Mother" stuff- I made soap, candles, pickled everything in sight, sewed all our clothes, grew and ground wheat for flour, dyed fabrics out of natural ingredients we grew and bartered for, made wines, beer and root beer, made everything I could to make us as self-sufficient as possible (crackers, cheeses, breads, all stocks, all of it.) I canned, dried and otherwise preserved everything I could. We bartered candles, soaps, canned stuff, veggies and herbs for eggs, dairy and meat. Groovy far out? No. Man, it was HARD WORK! It was the best thing I ever did.
Interlaced with all this was a series of many jobs in many occupations. Later, after my "Earth Mother" phase but while I was still teaching and catering, I was in many job fields including being a restaurant menu consultant. I seem to throw myself full bore into whatever I grab onto so I was busy 7 days a week for years. Somewhere along the way I met and married my DH Kriss, we built a house then (typical!) decided to move to an island. Long story made short, we chose Kauai, bought a little house and moved lock, stock and barrel in January of 1988 and never looked back.
I got talked into catering a handful of times here due to a lack of the right type of caterer available (fancy food) but I chose not to expand and cater on a regular basis. Soon I "just said no" and stopped catering altogether. I held a number of positions here on Kauai in the early years, trying to find my niche. We had a devestating hurricane on Sept. 11, 1992 that clobbered the whole island. Down for the count! Typical of me, I guess, I plowed in and started a wholesale travel business that brings people to Hawaii in January of 1993. Looking back now, I wonder what on Earth was I thinking? Well, 13 years later it is going strong. Luck and a lot of hard work. In 1995 my DH and I opened an old-fashioned ice cream soda shop and expanded it shortly after that. We made homemade pies, brownies, all kinds of decadant things. We put a full kitchen in a few years later. We sold the business in Feb of 2006 and are happy to be "retired" from that crazy life.
Throughout my adult years I collected (still do) cookbooks. I have a few thousand and "purge" once in a while when the shelves get too full. My DH and I built a house (owner/builder without a contractor) 3 years ago and one of the features of it is a wall-to-wall, floor to ceiling set of built-in shelves for the entire collection. I finally have the kitchen of my dreams (I sold my professional flute and bought a commercial stove!) and a pantry the size of a big walk-in cooler.
So- here I am on Kauai, with my DH, a parrot named Phyllis and a Belgian Malinois (dog) named Zoom with almost everything in life a person could be blessed with. My health is great but I got too heavy so my project in May was to Lose The Flab and get back to my high school weight. Sigh. I blasted into the project like I seem to do everything else. I lost the weight- 75 lbs of it (95 lbs over three years)- and now am staying away from some of the delicious things that made me heavy-but I find I don't miss them for myself. I still cook a lot for others but now know my own limits and stay inside them.
My true love is old-fashioned "scratch" cooking- I don't purchase a lot of prepared foods but I am not a "food snob" and you will occasionally find things like a can of cream of mushroom soup on my counter. I love big, bold flavors and mix them up at every turn.
I very much enjoy Mimi's FK forum with my morning coffee. I love reading all the posts and feeling the enthusiasm of everyone that contributes. New cooks, experienced cooks, everyone in between. I learn things all the time, print out and save recipes almost on a daily basis. I am very happy to share any and all cooking experience I may have with all of you.