I am 47 years old, born , raised and lived in the 'burbs of NYC till I was 32 and we decided that the kids ( who were 5 and 9 at the time) really needed to be able to go outside without using an elevator and a chaperone at all times, so we loaded up the truck and moved to Pennsyltuckey. As you all know I lost my husband and love of my life Keith, almost 2 years ago at Christmas. We had just celebrated our 25th anniversary and were planning our trip to Bermuda. Life had other plans. I have 2 kids, now grown, Cici is 26 and is getting married in August, she and Bill just bought their first house. DJ my little Solider Boy will be 22 on the 27th and is a Sgt. and Jump Master with the 82nd Airborne in NC. So now it's just my cat Anthony and myself wandering around the house. I went to work last year at a retirement community as a sous chef. The hours are long and the place is brutal, but some days it's well worth it when you have a resident who tells you how much all the hard work means to them.
I learned to cook out of self defense when I was a kid. I say that because my mom thought that salt and pepper and maybe some paprika was all you needed as far as seasonings went. She is an incredible baker, but please, don't ask her to feed you a meal smileys/smile.gif. I remember vividly her throwing a chuck roast, yes, a whole roast, ya know the one that needs to be cooked in a pot? under the broiler in our new house in Rockland County and all of a sudden flames were shooting out of the oven door. Daddy grabbed the pan and heaved it out the slider onto the patio where it continued to burn in the snow. as kids we thought it was hysterical. Daddy and Mom, not so much! Then a higher being smiled on our poor culinary challenged family and my Nonnie came to live with us. she taught me how to cook and not just as a means to to survive. She loved cooking and I was her most devoted little follower. I could make a mean meatball at 4 years old. She used to make me pull up a stool to stand on when I used to visit her before she lived with us and tie an apron around my neck and tell me to make myself useful. I was hooked from then on. Keith's mother was another non-cook. He called Wish Bone Italian Dressing her accelerant of choice, which meant that she would drown chicken in it and throw it on the grill till it was black on the outside and nice and bloody on the inside. I think this was why he spent so much time at our house when we were teenagers. I like to think it was because he was scoping me out, but it was because he was my brother's best friend, and good food was always around. He always told people he married me because I had 2 very nice assets and was a great cook. Strangly I never took offense. Sadly I don't cook very much at home anymore. It's just me and I don't get the same pleasure out of it as I did when I had Keith. Every once in a while I will get creative and make the kids come up and eat, then send them home with all the leftovers. I try to have at least one dinner party with everyone on the rare occassions that DJ is home on leave.
I found Gail's when we got our first computer, I think it was 1994 or 5. I used to be there on the constant. I was sad to see it go the way of the dinosaur and all the ugly that went on over there when it changed kept me away. Then thankfully and Angel named Mimi came to our emotional, and culinary rescue and brought us here. Thanks Mimi.
I learned to cook out of self defense when I was a kid. I say that because my mom thought that salt and pepper and maybe some paprika was all you needed as far as seasonings went. She is an incredible baker, but please, don't ask her to feed you a meal smileys/smile.gif. I remember vividly her throwing a chuck roast, yes, a whole roast, ya know the one that needs to be cooked in a pot? under the broiler in our new house in Rockland County and all of a sudden flames were shooting out of the oven door. Daddy grabbed the pan and heaved it out the slider onto the patio where it continued to burn in the snow. as kids we thought it was hysterical. Daddy and Mom, not so much! Then a higher being smiled on our poor culinary challenged family and my Nonnie came to live with us. she taught me how to cook and not just as a means to to survive. She loved cooking and I was her most devoted little follower. I could make a mean meatball at 4 years old. She used to make me pull up a stool to stand on when I used to visit her before she lived with us and tie an apron around my neck and tell me to make myself useful. I was hooked from then on. Keith's mother was another non-cook. He called Wish Bone Italian Dressing her accelerant of choice, which meant that she would drown chicken in it and throw it on the grill till it was black on the outside and nice and bloody on the inside. I think this was why he spent so much time at our house when we were teenagers. I like to think it was because he was scoping me out, but it was because he was my brother's best friend, and good food was always around. He always told people he married me because I had 2 very nice assets and was a great cook. Strangly I never took offense. Sadly I don't cook very much at home anymore. It's just me and I don't get the same pleasure out of it as I did when I had Keith. Every once in a while I will get creative and make the kids come up and eat, then send them home with all the leftovers. I try to have at least one dinner party with everyone on the rare occassions that DJ is home on leave.
I found Gail's when we got our first computer, I think it was 1994 or 5. I used to be there on the constant. I was sad to see it go the way of the dinosaur and all the ugly that went on over there when it changed kept me away. Then thankfully and Angel named Mimi came to our emotional, and culinary rescue and brought us here. Thanks Mimi.