ABOUT THIS COOK:

I've always had a passion for cooking. I decided, after college, that I wanted to attend culinary school...but to be 100% sure, I got a job cooking in a restaurant. After years of hostessing and waiting tables, I earned a new respect for restaurant chefs...and decided I didn't want to be one. I love to cook for my family and friends, while chatting and enjoying a glass of wine. Not crazy about servers yelling at me because I messed up table 52's order. So, I abandoned my lust for culinary school, got a job in the "real world" and spend my evenings and weekends cooking up a storm. With a a glass of wine and friends, of course.

• What is the strangest food you have ever eaten?
  Lamb's Heart: My fiance and I went to our fellow foodie's home for a Persian meal. They were preparing several meats...chicken, lamb and lamb's heart. Everything looked so good when it came of the grill, I snatched up a piece, popped it in my mouth and raved. My host said, "Oh, so you like lamb's heart?" I almost choked when I realized that's what I had injested -- but it was actually very good! {Don't know that I will ever have again...but it was definitely worth trying!}

• What do you cook when home alone?
  Scrambled Eggs and Rice

• Your most treasured kitchen possession:
  The slicing disc on my food processor. It has, literally, changed my life.

• The ideal number of guests for a dinner party is:
  It used to be as many as could fit at my table {eight}. Until I made a three-course Italian Christmas dinner for the family. From scratch. Four is much more manageable.