My love affair with food and all things related began when I was a little girl in my grandmother’s kitchen.

I was about seven years old when I went to live with my grandparents, my father’s parents.  Living in my grandparent’s home was like growing up in old school Puerto Rico.  As the only girl; I had three brothers at the time, it was my responsibility to help my grandmother in the kitchen.  And so, my culinary training began. 

In my grandmother’s kitchen I learned to respect and honor food for what it is; nourishment for your body and soul.  It’s where I came to learn to prepare some of the most delicious, natural Puerto Rican meals I’ve ever tasted.  My grandmother was and still is very health conscious; she taught me the importance of cooking healthy, low fat, low sodium dishes.  Where other Puerto Rican families we knew were frying up delectable concoctions in their kitchens, my grandmother was broiling, baking and sautéing in olive oil.  She never fried anything and never used spices or heavy seasonings.  In her opinion all that was needed for exquisite sabor (flavor) was Sofrito.  Hers; onions, bell pepper and garlic.  I learned to prepare dishes like Arroz con gandules (rice with pigeon peas), Funche con bacalao (cornmeal smothered with salted cod fish in a light tomato sauce) and countless types of soups, stews and bean entrée’s.

By the time I was twenty-four; I had been living in Connecticut for a few years and exposed to my mother’s Puerto Rican cooking; rich with the flavors of spices and aromatic herbs and vegetables.  My mother’s kitchen was all about flavor and her motto is “everything in moderation is good for you”.  Gone were mi Abuelita’s all natural recipes to be replaced by my mother’s fiery style cuisine.  I came to love the flavors of Spanish Fried chicken, Alcapurias, and Pastelillo's; popular Puerto Rican snack foods.  My mother introduced me to Latino delicacies such as Sancocho (root vegetable stew) and the best arroz (rice) with anything, I’ve ever tasted.  It is in her kitchen that I learned to allow my imagination to run wild and to cook with reckless freedom and abandon delving into some of my American favorites and create, in my opinion, a new style of cuisine; Latin American. 

Today, taking what I’ve learned from both my grandmother and mother, I’ve revamped simple dishes such as lasagna, penne pasta and chicken and dumplings, with bold Latino flavor and ingredients!  Because, let’s not forget; although my family is from Puerto Rico, I was born and raised in the good ole USA and I am, after all, an all American girl!