I am a native Southern Californian, but have also lived for periods in Hawaii and Nevada. You will see the strong influences of californian, mexican, asian, and hardy ranch style cooking in my recipes! I love using flavors from various cooking traditions. Currently, some of my favorites are introducing some of the delicate vietnamese-french flavors to liven up soups and salads. But I like to keep moving on to new things! My mother's family came to America in the 1600s and swept through the South. My father's family came to America from Italy and Scandinavia in the late 1800s. Between southern baking, grilling, and bbq-ing, then wonderful italian seafoods and pastas, I have a wide range of recipes to choose from. My personal favorite is a pork chop and linguini dish that's always a hit. In order to compensate for the cooking tragedy I list here, I served up one up a mother's day brunch to die for! The combinations of meats, cheeses, fruits, teas/coffees, appetizers, champagne, and atmosphere is still talked about in my family! For a first holiday meal with my mother-in-law-to-be and her family, I made a chocolate covered mascipone torte that I didn't taste before I served it up because I was in a hurry. It was so sickly sweet that no one could eat it!