I'm an American of Italian/Hispanic descent who's been living in Tuscany for the last twenty years. I'm a self-trained chef and have worked in some of the best restaurants in the area I live. I run a personal-chef business and hold cooking courses on Italian regional cooking with my business partner. You can check out our website at: www.alfrescoacsi.it. I like to cook just about everything and really like experimenting in the kitchen. I love to travel and to discover the food of different countries. Big family get-togethers during the holidays. Unfortunately I do far less of them than I used to because I'm often working. However, when I do get the chance to attend, I usually do the cooking and get help from my father who's a great cook. I really enjoy cooking together with him. About two years ago I had a catering gig for 120 people and the night before the event the oven broke down which forced me to change most of the menu I had planned around. It turned out to be a huge success much to my relief. Probably the same night I discovered the oven had broken down. It caused me great anxiety and I lost a lot of sleep. I also ended up having to work twice as hard, so it was really tiring.