Last week was the International Association of Culinary Professionals conference in San Francisco. If you weren't there, I'm sorry. If you make your living in food, you really can't afford not to go. Much like if you make films and aren't invited to Cannes, you need a new...

I grew up the youngest of three girls. Naturally, we share our family memories, often differently, and when I'm with my sisters, long forgotten remembrances will crop up: My mother hanging the bunch of bananas on a string in her kitchen because when you hang the bananas, they don't bruise...

I grew up with a father that had served in World War II. He was a flight instructor in the Army Air Corps. He was 26, newly married to my mother, and stationed in Deming, New Mexico. It was his first time away from home.

My father did not...

I happen to love my vagina. We have been through thick and thin together. The great, the good, the average and the occasional nights we never speak of. Ever.

Now that we are 60, which is the new 40, we both feel we have a lot of great years...

The day Julia Child died, her assistant and my friend of many years, Stephanie Hersh, came to spend the night at my home. She had answered a thousand emails verifying that Julia was dead, and simply wanted to get out of Santa Barbara. I made Stephanie a turkey burger for...

I grew up in a traditional Italian family. My mother did the day-to-day cooking and my father would roast a turkey or duck every holiday. They were both excellent cooks. We ate fresh vegetables from my grandfather's garden, soft polenta, handmade pastas and lots of antipasti. Colorful dishes heaped with...

It took years after my mother's death before I could dream about her. In my dreams now, she's in her 50s and still incredibly beautiful. We are usually laughing or shopping or cooking in her kitchen.

I'm not sure why it took my mother so long to come back...

I own at least one thousand cookbooks. I love each one I keep. I am sent at least thirty new cookbooks by authors, publishers and PR agents per year in the hopes that I will review their books. I usually don't because I know...

I was thirty-three and going to culinary school in 1984. There were only a handful of girls in my school of three hundred students. Ninety-eight percent of the students were male and all of the instructors were male. The crème de la crème of the chefs were French. There were...

I have several paying gigs and deadlines that I should be working on but with all the shit storms of last week, I can't focus on "sharing" my favorite chocolate dessert. Like that's what America needs today. Recycle your food magazines from last February; those articles and recipes will still...

Okay, I'm jumping into the fray. I want to go on record first thing by saying that I have never met Paula Deen. I did get a call from her team years ago, but I was booked.

I have never watched her show for more then 10 minutes in all...

You don't have a choice; you're either born Italian or you're not. I thought all people were like us. It was years before I found out that my family was different from most.

Growing up, churches, schools, and stores were all Italian. Social gatherings were spent with other Italians....

The hardest thing about being Italian is finding a house that has big enough closets to save everything you have to save. There are so many things you just cannot throw out. The nagging fear that you will need a particular item at some time in the future stops you....

Years ago, I cooked for one of the richest men in the world. He had been a catering client who then asked me to come to work for him full time as his private chef. His peeps offered me a big bag of money, health benefits, and even stock options...

Last Saturday, I never got out of bed. I didn't want to and I didn't have to. I fed my doggies, grabbed my tea, and dove back into bed with my review copy of Recipes for Life: My Memories, by Linda Evans.

I devoured every page. What...

Recently, a classmate from my days at the California Culinary Academy, Greggor, called to say his parents were downsizing to a retirement home in Hawaii. They were shipping just one container of items across the Pacific Ocean. Gregg was orchestrating the move and wanted to know if I would like...

As a chef and caterer for over 25 years, I've cooked a lot of meals. Cooking has been my passion as well as my career for my entire adult life. I couldn't have done anything else. My personality fits this work, and I'm entirely grateful that I got paid to...

I'm not sure when we started calling Mr....

I get emails everyday during the summer months from wedding planners, chefs and caterers. This story is for you. Lord, I have lived the pain.

I'm not sure how actress Tracy Nelson found my catering company; I just remember that she was darling, tiny and so excited to be...

I'm the commencement speaker this week for a graduating class at a prestigious Art Institute. I don't know who suggested me, but it was most likely a client. I can be honest about my clients; even when I'm a shit, they like me. It's part of my charm. And why?...