My Story as a Home Cook
“Tell us who you are through your food”, is what we’re frequently told in the food media world. That’s not a simple answer in my case. As a home cook with mixed heritage in Astoria, Queens, New York City, I traced my ancestry and discovered that I descend from a handful of Sicilian and Black-American cooks. Just a coincidence? I think not.
Making cranberry bread as a 7-year-old home cook at home in Richmond, Rhode Island, circa 1985. This memory inspired my Cranberry Apple Crisp..
The Early Years
My desire for food started with lots of holiday baking as a child with my adopted family in Richmond, Rhode Island. I found my biological family in my early 20s, and discovered that cooking was literally in my blood. Simultaneously, my parents constantly encouraged us to seek diversity and learn about other cultures, and I did so through food. Extensive genealogy research in 2015 led to more pleasant culinary surprises, and it inspired me to become a food blogger.
Naturally, I gravitated to food jobs during college in Minneapolis, finding work as a dining hall prep cook, a cheesemonger in a gourmet deli, and a coffee shop barista. I was known for making some really awesome chocolate chip cookies. My friends endured 9 years of my tedious trial-and-error gourmet meals.
Moving to Astoria, Queens, NYC
Upon arriving in Astoria in 2004, I stopped trying to make gourmet food and became more interested in “American” comfort food. Also, I was motivated by the wide variety of international ingredients that were new to me and so easily available in my local markets. More tedious trial-and-error kitchen adventures took place as I learned from a wide variety of sources. Watching TV, I learned about Puerto Rican cuisine from chef Daisy Martinez and Italian cuisine from chef Lydia Bastianich on PBS. On YouTube, I learned from watching America’s Test Kitchen and various home cooks. And meticulously reading Cook’s Illustrated magazine on my commute to work was an everyday ritual.
Nowadays, my experience as a home cook is highly influenced by Puerto Rican, Mexican, Black-American, Sicilian, and Italian-American cuisines, but I’ll literally cook anything. I bring a health-conscious approach to traditional dishes, which aligns with my vegetable-forward diet. A vegan friend inspired me to experiment with meatless recipes and concepts like vegetarian sandwiches and kale chips.
My Culinary Timeline
Pictures speak louder than words. Scroll below to see a visual timeline of my culinary story.
2013
Volunteering to make sandwiches at Congregation Beth Elohim in Brooklyn, circa 2013.
2002
Cooking with my birth father, who is a home cook in his own way. Here, he’s showing me how he makes Rhode Island clam chowder during a visit to Minneapolis, circa 2002. I made my own version in 2022.
1999
I spent my college years working as a cheese monger at a gourmet deli in Minneapolis. This was the inspiration for my Mac and Cheese recipe.
1997
Home from college and cooking for my family in the summer of 1997.
1985
My parents exposed me to “real” food during a trip to San Francisco’s Chinatown, circa 1986.
This was my mom showing me REAL Chinese food for the first time.
Me as a home cook with some holiday baking in Davis, California.
1984
My dad and I are getting ready for the annual sunflower growing contest at the Washington County Fair in Richmond, Rhode Island, circa 1984.
My first involvement in publishing a recipe was my mom getting me involved in her Girl Scout Troop’s cookbook project, circa 1984. I still love chocolate-chip-anything to this day, and this was the inspiration behind my chocolate chunk cookie recipe.
1963
My biological grandfather, Amos Robinson, was a well-known pit master in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, and was featured in the local newspaper (below) in 1963. It inspired me to teach myself how to barbecue chicken.
1959
My mom’s 1959 Fannie Farmer cookbook from my childhood kitchen still provides inspiration and endless memories as a young home cook throughout the 80s and early 90s.
1917
My biological great-grandfather, Antonio Salvatore, was a cook at Thorndike Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts, shortly after immigrating from Patti, Sicily. Circa 1917. This inspired me to create my Sicilian Tomato Eggplant Soup.
1865
My 4th great-grandmother, Rosanna (Brinley) Watson – the daughter of a freed slave – was a cook in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1865.
1857-1931
Genealogy research led me to discover I descend from a great-grandfather who was a pasta maker (“pastaio”) in Patti, Sicily.
1831
An inventory from the home of a free Black ancestor – my biological 4th great grandfather, Prince Robinson – revealing the contents of his kitchen in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, in November of 1831.
