ABOUT ME
Welcome, everyone! I am so excited and happy to finally be starting this blog. I've been dreaming about it for a few years and just had to find a way to express my love and passion for all things FOOD!
I was born in Montclair, New Jersey into an Italian/American family, the youngest of four. Ours was a very busy household, and thankfully I was able to find some comfort and quiet helping my mom in the kitchen. She is an amazing cook and taught me so much. She passed on the cooking bug, to some degree, to all of her children. Thanks, mom!
I can’t remember exactly when the desire to create and nurture through food became a part of me. It was there when I was young, helping my mom with dinner and remained with me throughout my life, cooking for college friends in Washington, DC and later hosting dinner parties and potlucks in New York City. I studied and performed acting and improv comedy, worked in ad sales and was a preschool teacher in NYC. I had so many interesting and exciting experiences. It took some time to get there (um, decades), and there were quite a few detours (such is life), but I finally made the decision to leave NYC where I had been living for almost two decades. I was at a crossroads and I knew it was time for a huge transition. I needed a life-altering, mind-blowing, never to be the same kind of soul change. And boy oh boy, that’s what I got!
My awesome brother Francesco was a talented architect living in San Francisco. He and his wife moved to Seattle and there he decided to change careers and go to culinary school. He was 39 at the time! Francesco went on to start his own business and become a successful personal chef. He is an incredible cook. I look up to him for his bravery. He took a risk and changed careers to follow his dreams. It made me stop and think about my own life and reevaluate. I adored my life in NYC and had a loving and supportive group of friends. But I was aware, despite how gut-wrenching it was to leave the life I knew, my community, my friends, that on a profound, unignorable level this was my next "right" move. Someone or something was whispering in my ear, and Seattle was calling to me. And there, the idea was born.
So I did it! I moved to Seattle in August 2013. I took the math pre-requisites (goodbye paralyzing math phobia I have conquered you forever) and graduated with a degree in Culinary Arts and Specialty Desserts and Breads at the Seattle Culinary Academy. I fell in love, married my husband and have been working in the industry for the last few years. It has been a great experience, and both physically and mentally challenging. Now, I am searching for ways to be more creative and create a deeper and more personal connection and experience with food. There’s so much to learn, so many recipes to test, cookbooks to buy, and mistakes to be made. I want this blog to be about having fun and not judging ourselves too harshly. We all make mistakes and that's part of learning right? I encourage you all to comment, ask questions and share your thoughts and ideas here at Little Piggy.
Thanks to everyone who has loved and supported me throughout all of my challenges and transitions and thank you all for visiting Little Piggy! Please join me, my super sweet husband, Seth, and THE cutest cat in the world, Honey, as we cook and bake our way through life!