I am trying to figure out how a Jersey girl like me wound up in Bangor. I derive the most satisfaction from cooking healthy gourmet meals that both my 1 year old and three year old daughters will eat. Right now, one of those meals is a thai curry; heavy on the edamame and broccoli. I like to make a big pot of spaghetti sauce (gravy?), but I struggle to get the ingredients I need up here. I come from a third generation Italian-American mother and a first generation Polish-American father, so there's lots of food traditions. As a child, my favorite food memory is sneaking into my Babci's kitchen on Easter Sunday to snatch a taste of meat pie. Another was helping my grandmother make pasta fazool on Sunday afternoons. Now, my favorite tradition is making homemade pasta with my three year old on the atlas. Successfully making baby food for both my girls was an important achievement for me. I believe that is why they are such good eaters and hope they will continue to make good choices. I was very proud to make my first batch of babka, just like Babci's. And finally, when I mastered my mother's (and grandmother's) meatballs. When I was 8+ months pregnant with my second daughter, I ruined frozen chicken nuggets and french fries. . . .a tragedy on many levels, yeah? Another recent tragedy was when I used some cheap-o brand romano shake cheese in my meatballs. This ruined the ENTIRE pot of sauce. I will pay for Locatelli. I will pay for Locatelli. . . .