I have had a love of cooking since I was a child, helping my mother in the kitchen. She was a beautiful cook and always shared her love for it with our family.

My father is from Albania and, growing up, my mom also taught me how to cook the many Greek and Albanian dishes we all loved to eat. I am a retired Navy nurse and during my time in the Navy, I had the opportunity to live in southern Italy and Germany learning their European cuisines. I loved to help my “Italian” Mom, Anna, who also shared her love of the southern Italian cooking with me for the two years I lived across the hall from her family in Pozzuoli, Italy, outside of Naples.

After retiring from the Navy, I used my GI bill to attend culinary school and spent six weeks in the south of Spain for a culinary internship. European influences have become an important part of my culinary endeavors.

My love for sharing my cooking with others is what led me to teaching the joy of sharing a meal with friends and family.