Cecina, a special flatbread from Italy

Working on this post brought back many wonderful memories of my time in Italy. I lived there for six months between the Fall of 2007 and Spring of 2008, as part of my culinary training. The road to cooking full time is a question I am asked frequently at demos and during cooking classes.

Most of my adult life up until 2007 was working in retail management and then human resources. I started off as a dancer just out of college, but me plus thousands of other dancers in NYC did not equal steady work. About a year and half after graduating I got a Christmas temp job at Macy's and my path changed. After working my way (slightly) up the ladder there I jumped to Banana Republic and then to Tiffany's. The Tiffany job lead me to Michigan were I was running a small store. It was challenging times for the auto industry back then (when isn't it?) and after the store downsized I decided a move back to NYC was the sensible thing to do. I landed pretty quickly at Brooks Brothers in the Human Resource department and worked my way through all of the disciplines: labor relations (my favorite), training, and compensation. From there a jump to Sony Corporation I thought would be were I would stay for a long time (I loved the company); however, after September 11th I found myself downsized once again. Short stints with a software company and a now defunct hospital as Vice President of HR lead me to my final human resource position (nearly 22 years later) as head of human resources for the handbag line Le Sportsac. I pretty much thought I found my dream job once again, but between the intensity of consolidating their manufacturing off shore while the company was sold to a large conglomerate, trying to fit the square peg into the round hole of the new owner, plus my own emotional roller coaster of a perinatal loss very late in our pregnancy, I decided in the spring of 2007 I was done.

Cooking is a thread that has run through the course of my life since I was 13 or 14. Even as a little baby (I've been told) I was mesmerized by things in the kitchen. When I was old enough to reach the stove I wanted to cook. I cooked all through High School for my family, in college for my apartment mates and beyond. Never, ever complaining that it was a chore. I truly loved it. (still do!) When Larry and I began living together I started doing my epic dinner parties for our very close friends, sit down as everyone was eating surveying the table of food I created listening to our friends, contently realizing that my life is pretty freaking awesome.

Click here to read more about my flatbread story, on my blog.