I’m a storyteller, adventurer, wife and mother. For the past six years my inspiration has come through food and the bonds we create when we break bread with others. I’ve developed over 300 recipes for my weekly column in our city’s newspaper, The Forum, and they will all be available here.

In my previous life, I was a cruise director aboard small luxury expedition ships. I met my husband, Tony, in Colon, Panama in 1992 while we were both working aboard the M/V World Discoverer. Tony’s parents are from Sicily, and he is 100% Italian, by way of Toronto, Ontario.

Tony and I were married in 1993 and spent the rest of the nineties working together and sailing our way around the globe, from the Arctic Circle at the top of the world down to the Antarctic Peninsula at the bottom, and many places in between.

In 2000 we made our home in Fargo, North Dakota, my hometown, where we owned and operated a fine dining restaurant until 2015.

Tony is Sicilian-Canadian, which makes me an IBM (Italian by Marriage), even though my heritage is typically North Dakotan – Norwegian, Irish, German. Trust me, after 25 years, I’ve earned the title. Like all good Italians, together with our teenage son, Gio, we share a love for food, family, faith, travel and friendship.

I’ve been adulting for more of my life than not. We used to just call it Growing Up, and it was expected to happen pretty much the day after high school graduation, or by your mid-20s for late bloomers.

I’m happily Gen X, through and through. But Boomers and Millennials are welcome here, too – hey, we all have to eat.

I am passionate about good food and the powerful role it plays in our lives. I’ll be exploring the world of food through recipes, stories and hopefully some meaningful discussion about where our food comes from, how it’s produced and who’s producing it, and how to sift through the hype to feel secure in its safety.

I hope that you’ll join me in these conversations and even find a favorite new recipe, or two, along the way.