ties that bind and define..

for as long as i can remember food played a key role in my family, it was something that brought us together in many ways. homework in the kitchen while mom cooked dinner. saturdays were for my dad and i, shopping at the italian market and watching football together over his famous sandwiches. family dinner on sundays which was never missed for any reason. holidays and birthdays spent at the table laughing, sharing and in the end learning that home and family were the place and people i could count on. coming from a big italian family on the east coast, when my parents decided to move us to california it was important to them to keep the sense of family ties and love. we spent our summers visiting relatives on the east coast for weeks at a time and while living and growing up in california my parents taught us to build an extended family through our friends. i can never remember a time when there was not a new face at our table and as the years passed our family of 6 grew to a family of now 14, plus various numbers that drop in from time to time. i believe that all of this brought me to where i am now and the passions, decisions and the life course i have chosen, wife, mother, friend, pastry girl and cook.
i now have my own husband and children. as the world seems to run at warp speed with tv, internet, school, sport and social activities i hold tightly to the values my parents taught me and do my best to instill the same on my children. we sit down as often as possible together for dinner, sunday dinners are still alive and well with different friends and family all the time. since cooking now is not only a passion, but my chosen profession, there are many hours with my children doing homework and chatting while i am cooking and baking.
as i spend the day packing for a trip to the east coast, now with my children, to spend countless hours with family, laughing and sharing around the table, i am reminded of my parents who are no longer with me. i plan to share with my kids the stories and recipes of their grandparents as well as do a little research for my cooking as well. so in closing my blog will be quiet for a few short weeks, and when i return i hope to have some new stories to share with my family and recipes to share with my friends and clients.