"I leamed to enjoy food and cooking by helping my mother in the kitchen from the time I was a little girl. Mother is an excellent cook, and because of her indisputable reputation, many friends frequently show up for dinner on weekends. Mother enjoys feeding people ( a trait I inherited from her ) and can whip up an inspiring meal or snack on short notice out of whatever she finds in the refrigerator and cupboard. During those early years, I helped her wash and cut the vegetables, mode decorative tomato and chilly flowers and played with colors and textures as to arrange them into pleasing mouth-watering renditions.

Cooking took on much more than the blending of tastes and aromas: it engaged all the senses. I leamed from her what a complete sensual delight it can be, a source of great joy and satisfaction. Those childhood years gave me a most valuable apprenticeship, in addition to countleshours of precious mother-daughter bonding."