My culinary degree comes from Switzerland, my interest in cooking from my mother. I also have a Master's degree in Hospitality Mgt., and spent years in kitchens across the U.S. and Europe. I now work for a software company installing touch-screen terminals in restaurants and training managers and users how to use them. Same hours, less heat! I love hearty, stick-to-your ribs, eclectic recipes from Central Europe with a southern European flair and Mediterranean influences. I believ that food brings people together in ways little else can. If we all sat down to eat together, there would be no more wars. My mother is of Irish extraction, my father was German. I think that shows through in my recipes but I also surprise myself and others in coming up with unusual combinations every time I step into the kitchen. Most of all, I believe no meal should be boring. There have been quite a few. My favorite was submitting a few recipes in regional cooking contests that did quite well. In cooking school, I accidentally dropped an entire one-pound box of salt into a pot of consomme we were making. It tasted like sea-water, we had to eat what we cooked and my class-mates would not let me near the salt for a week!