Friday, March 21, 2014

Who's Cooking: Christina (Lancaster, PA)

Share it Please


Christina is my sister-in-law and I first met her when my husband and I started dating.  We hit it off pretty quickly and cooking is something we've always had in common.  I wish (pretty much daily) that we lived in Lancaster so we could hang out more regularly!

Christina married her junior high/high school crush (lucky her!) 8 years ago. They have produced the three of the most brilliant and attractive kids to ever walk the planet.  

Christina worked as an RN before she had kids and now she gets to stay home with them full-time. Her background is Italian (among other things) and she’s from New Jersey, but she grew up in Lancaster County, PA.  Outside of the family she and her husband have made together, she has four siblings and her dad.  Family is something she has always been passionate about.

Christina loves food.  It’s as simple as that, she generally thinks it is amazing.  Specifically, she loves the science of food, where it comes from, what people do with it, what it looks like and what it tastes like.  In short: she loves it!  Even as a really young kid she remembers always wanting to try new foods and getting excited about trying to eat the strangest things available.

Q&A With Christina

Why do you cook at home?  Probably first and foremost it's more economical than eating out all the time and frankly; we've got to eat. But it's also a creative outlet for me. Granted, it’s not like that every day for every meal. I love to get creative with meals most often when I only have some random ingredients and no prior plan for what we’ll be eating that night. Some of the most amazing dinners have come out of that scenario. I also love cooking for people, it's a way I show my love for others.  I think creating a meal and sharing a family mealtime enhances the sense of family I want to instill in my kids as they grow up.

What is your favorite ingredient to cook with and why?  This is a really hard question for me!  I tend to go through phases with ingredients I love.  I think that mushrooms add an incredible flavor to so many things, but that feels like a really boring answer!  I use olive oil for everything when I cook.  If I ran out of olive oil I don't know if I could actually cook anything!  For the most part, I love foods just as they are and not particularly as an ingredient.

If you could travel to any country or city in the world, just to taste their food, where would you go and why?  This is another really tough question for me and the answer probably depends on the day!  But if you sent me to France, Spain, Italy, India or Vietnam to eat I wouldn't be disappointed. I feel a strong tendency to say Italy because I'm Italian and I think that would be amazing, but I'm pretty sure I would be just as happy at any of the other places.

I am going to share an appetizer recipe that has special meaning in my family.  It literally is the most important recipe we have and is an absolute necessity at every holiday and party.  It’s one of the few recipes my mom passed down to me and I swear no one has ever not liked this dip!



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