Meet Jolene (and Joe)

I've been "stirring the pot" as my mom's helper for about 22 years, since I could stand on a chair and "stir" or make some form of make a mess of the ingredients in the kitchen. In my home we always ate dinner together every night, with very few exceptions. If you didn't like what was on the table, dinner might last a little longer than it did on lasagna night. My mom cooked to my dad's taste, and I've inherited the family ideal that the way to a man's heart is over the teeth and through the gums, look out tummy- here it comes. My mom's cooking heritage was originally bolstered by her creative, and intuitive Indian mother's cooking; it later doubled in size under the instruction of her loving, hillbilly, comfort-food-cooking mother-in-law. As you can imagine, I've soaked up so much of that heritage and added my own flare.

To make a long story short, in my family- we cook!

If I had to sum up "my own flare" it would be that I fly by the seat of my pants, no idea where a meal is headed. I like to pile up the fresh ingredients and take off from there. I have a few classic dishes that I can probably nail down a recipe for, but look out for "mods."

When I cook with my grandmother (Nani), she cooks- I roll, chop, grate, and get out of the way when necessary!

Joe, doing what he does second best- working up an appetite. (First best is obviously enjoying all of the wonderful things I make for him!)

To every ying there is a yang, and to every chef there is a hungry guy- hopefully he's madly in love with you and loves everything you cook. That's my #1 food critic and fiance, Joe. You'll notice some themes to my cooking that are catered to his "culinary interests" we'll call them... Most meals have meat, but Joe's  a veggie monster too so most everything I cook has multiple ingredients. We both love cheese- on anything. Joe loves ethnic cuisine, and his top requests (when I can trick him into helping me plan the menu) are enchiladas, fried rice or stir fry, and lasagna. He's always game for Indian food (mine almost as much as my Nani's), and will belly up for grilled Americana any day of the week.