I Truly Have A Love-hate

I've Never Wanted To Be The Ingenue. Now That I'm Getting Into My Forties, I Think My Time As A Woman Has Arrived; I Think I Might Have A New Moment In My Career. I Have That Drive Left - Just For A Little While.

When My Mother Was Raising Me, She Moved Us Upstate To The Woodstock Area. Our Closest Neighbor Was A Mile Away. She Planted All Her Own Vegetables.

I Think That My Interpretation Of Italian Was A Lot More Southern Than What My Husband Cooks. You Know, I Grew Up In Queens And In Brooklyn, And We - Really, It's More Southern. It's Naples And Sicily. It's Heavier. It's Over-spiced. And Like Most Americans, I Thought Spaghetti And Meatballs Was Genius.

Thanksgiving Was Always A Favorite Holiday For Me. The Preparation Was Fun! My Grandma And I Would Walk To The Butcher On Jamaica Avenue In Queens, Order The Bird, And Buy All The Fixings At The Market.

I Used To Watch My Grandmother Make Fancy, Julia Child-style Beef Bourguignon. And Growing Up In New York City, I Was Exposed To Many Cultures. I Experimented With Puerto Rican And Jamaican Food.