Let me start by saying that my blog isn’t about fancy, gourmet food but old fashioned, small town, hometown cooking.  I am from what they call “The Coal Region”.  The Coal region or Pennsylvania Anthracite region is home to the largest known deposits of anthracite coal found in the Americas.

In my town, many of the town residents immigrated from Isca sullo Ionio, which  is a town in the Calabria region of Italy.  As a matter of fact, my mother-in-law came over on a boat.

I have two passions — music and cooking.  My friends call me “The Dancing Queen” and I love to dance to the music.  I also love to create.  I create with my cooking.  However, I rarely measure unless it is baked goods.  Then you must measure.  I just sprinkle, sprinkle.  I will try to give measurements but you may have to adjust and that means, add more or maybe less.

I love watching the various cooking shows & competition on Food Network and have learned quite a bit from those guys & gals.  I also read magazines and try many of their recipes.  I can go to a restaurant and like a dish and then re-create it at home.  Cooking is an art and I am pretty good in art!  I love seeing the end result – the tasting, the looks on my husband or sons’ faces and then hearing “yum”!  Occasionally, something tastes absolutely terrible and my husband or sons will say, don’t make that again…ha ha ha!  It’s all trial and error.

My mother would always call me and my sisters in the kitchen to watch her cooking.  She didn’t let us cook because money was limited and she couldn’t afford to waste anything.  But I have a photographic memory and I can remember her cooking and what she did.

When I first married my 100% Italian husband, Bruno, his mom showed me how to cook various Italian dishes, including wedding soup.  I can watch once and make it.  Each week, I plan my meals for the following week and write my grocery list accordingly.  I am organized and never procrastinate.  I hate procrastination!

I have adapted many recipes to my liking and just experiment.  It’s all about the end result — the great food! So don’t hate cooking, enjoy it because you will end up with a delicious family pleasing dinner and your family will love you.  Remember, the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach!  Manga!

P.S. My “Never Trust a Skinny Cook” is just meant to be funny.