To this day, when I visit my father's parents, I am told that I need to eat more.....and have dessert! I can see the pleasure that both my grandparents get from shopping for me before I arrive (or recently taking me to the Whole Foods that opened in Florida by their house) cooking for me, and feeding me.

And then there's my mom. As a child, I bet everyone watches Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and thinks how amazing it would be to live like that. Well, I did!  When my sister, brother and I were young, my mom ran a chocolate business out of our house. She made chocolate horns of plenty for Thanksgiving, chocolate lollipops for birthday party favors, and even chocolate shaped "unspeakables" for bachelor and bridal showers! It was not uncommon to come home from school and see a variety of colored chocolates simmering on the kitchen stove. And while that business doesn't exist anymore, my mom is still the woman who, when asked to bring dessert, will show up at your house with 3 or 4 homemade cakes, pies, or treats.

So I guess it was destined to happen.

My love of cooking and nutrition however, did not blossom early in life. I honestly don't think that I had ever cooked for myself before I left for college (unless scrambled eggs count!). Starting to eat the food in my college dining hall (or rather, avoiding it) was what prompted the cooking to begin. I can remember, during my freshman year, mastering the art of making a "baked" ziti in my dorm room hot-pot: boil the water and the pasta, drain the water, mix the pasta with sauce and add it back into the hot-pot, sprinkle cheese on top and there you go. The beginning of my one-pot creations!

However, for me, food and cooking evolved less out of love and pleasure like it did for my family, and more out of need. When I became very ill during my college years, I really began to see my relationship with food a lot differently than I ever had before. Food became a source of strength, power, and ultimately health. It became an outlet for creativity, a way of sharing, and a way of learning....and re-learning.

I used to cook very differently than my family. My mom once told me in jest that my grandma would roll over in her grave if she knew that I planned to add miso paste, sea vegetables and ginger to her chicken soup recipe (which I did, and it was very good!). The kind of pleasure I derived from food has changed and taken on a new meaning. Not only do I now get great enjoyment from the act of cooking, but I benefit from the rewards of my foods  in the long term: a strong and healthy body.

I have probably taught hundreds of people to cook over the last seven years, yet I have never been to culinary school myself.  I personally couldn't tell you the difference between a flambé and a sauté--or how to caramelize or reduce properly--but that is not what cooking is about. At least not to me.

To me, cooking is about having fun.  It is about being creative. It is about taking the time to nourish your body and give it the things it truly needs.