ABOUT THIS COOK:

Food-loving, budget-minding, Italian Nana's cooking-influenced keeper of the blog at Poor Girl Gourmet. My husband and I have a tiny - very tiny - farmhouse and gentleman's farm outside of Providence, RI, just over the Massachusetts border. We raise chickens and laying hens (darned good eggs!), inadvertently becoming small-scale chicken farmers (as in we can feed ourselves and a friend or two) over the last 5 years. We keep bees, and encourage them to get into the garden while chasing chickens out. I used to work as a tv producer until the economy tanked and my waning desire to produce graphic packages and show promos finally evaporated. But don't tell my cable clients that, I'll still do it if they ask. I'm working on a cookbook for Andrews McMeel that is due out in spring 2010.

• What is the strangest food you have ever eaten?
  Nothing terribly strange. Tripe, maybe, if that qualifies as odd. No bugs (intentionally) to this point, but plenty of game. Wild boar? That might be strange to some. Oh, but so good, though.

• What do you cook when home alone?
  Pasta with whatever makes sense seasonally.

• Your most treasured kitchen possession:
  I love my tomato knife. That thing kicks ass.

• The ideal number of guests for a dinner party is:
  Eight. If there are more, I go with standing & snacks.