Speaking of AmeriCorps...

Eighteen young adults bonded by a strong love for Mexican food, eating their way across the U.S. Food became of upmost importance. For me it was integral to our journey and was at times a challenge.. Preparing enough meatloaf to feed 19 people, driving down a 6,000 foot mountain once a week to go food shopping….We did, however, get to eat some amazing food along the way. Highlights included El Charro in Tuscon, Arizona, where I experience my first Tres Leches cake (It was awesome), the best sweet potato fries I ever eaten at place called Felix’s in New Orleans (found while stumbling the streets during Mardi Gras), and the Fly Saucer in Little Rock, Arkansas, which has the biggest selection of micro-brewed beers on tap I have ever seen. Not to mention the countless home cooked meals we prepared and were severed from members of the communities we stayed in.

Where It Began....

My earliest memories are of food and my family … my great-grandmother in the kitchen on Sunday mornings frying meatballs, the Pizzelles that she, and now my grandmother and aunts, make every Christmas. The list goes on. I am lucky to have been born to a line of home cooks who take their cooking seriously, and consequently, I take food seriously. I love it… eating it, cooking it, talking about it, learning about it. One of my biggest influences is my grandmother, seen here preparing my “last supper” before I left for AmeriCorps NCCC - Filet Mignon, mash potatoes, and asparagus.