ABOUT THIS COOK:

When not cooking, or thinking about food, recipes and cooking techniques, I work full time negotiating and drafting agreements for internet service and media companies, and the companies that do business with them. I love sports, so I feel particularly fortunate to be negotiating a lot of deals these days for a well-known sports media company. It's fun work because I like writing, and I like problem solving (which is what negotiating fundamentally is, after all). In the kitchen, I find great satisfaction in searching for ways to make any task I do easier and to improve my results. I cook, and we eat at home, every night. As odd as this may seem to some, I actually rather enjoy cleaning up in my kitchen. I take pleasure in restoring order to this corner of my beautiful world, and am deeply grateful for having the means to create, share with others and eat great food. Life is very good. ;o)

• What is the strangest food you have ever eaten?
  Calves brains, in France when I was a very young woman. I was on a bike trip (alone) and while eating in a modest restaurant out in the countryside, saw a plate of them being served to a woman sitting nearby. There was a lot of discussion about how great they were, the best this woman had ever tasted, etc. So I ordered some. They were absolutely delicious, but the texture was unlike anything I'd ever had at the time. Definitely strange. ;o)

• What do you cook when home alone?
  Almost always, I forage in my fridge to combine already-cooked or otherwise prepped items (including, but not limited to, leftovers) with whatever strikes my fancy. It typically consists mostly of vegetables; since I do this just about every day for lunch, I typically add bits of leftover roasted, braised or grilled protein, and whatever tasty sauces or homemade condiments seem fitting. Every meal is different. And every meal satisfies, perfectly. ;o)

• Your most treasured kitchen possession:
  The time I spend there. After all, the best things in life aren't things.

• The ideal number of guests for a dinner party is:
  6 if we're serving indoors; 10 - 30 if we're dining inside and out.