Welcome to My Culinary Journey! Get ready to embark on an exciting adventure filled with flavors and fun!

 

Growing up in North Andover, MA, as a proud Sicilian-American, my love for cooking emerged at the young age of seven.  While most kids were busy pouring cereal, I was busy mixing up magic in the kitchen!

 

 

 

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My dad adored pasta and my mom often times would leave me to be responsible for preparing the evening meal.  That's because she was usually absent at dinner time and chose to work outside the home.  She disliked cooking intensely and on her days off,  she would religiously prepare the same dishes for the same day each and every week.   It was like a scheduled school menu.   She freely admitted she could not follow a recipe and occasionally whenever she tried something new, we would always pray... AFTER  we ate. 

 

Conversations around the table were rare as we would eat in silence - me watching my dad guarding his food like a police dog with his head just a few inches from his plate.  My mom would sit patiently waiting for some reaction, finally asking "Well,  do you like it?".  That's when my dad would  raise his head, big cow eyes glaring,  obviously annoyed at being interrupted and say,   "I'm eatin' it, ain't I ...if I didn't like it, I'd tell you." 

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My childhood was a whirlwind of dance classes, piano and voice lessons, while my parents had dreams of me opening a successful dance studio.  But my dreams of stardom had not yet emerged.  After high school graduation and only 16, my parents enrolled me at the Vogue Studios of Dance Education, located in Boston where I would learn how to teach dance. Making the trek by train each and every Saturday, spending the entire day there was exhausting.  I was enrolled as a substitute teacher giving up to 5 consecutive classes in tap, ballet and jazz.    My parents were satisfied with my progress and made the decision to fund a dance school and literally built me a business, thoroughly convinced that was where the real money was.  Hence, Dee's Studio of Dance in North Andover, MA was born.  At 17, running a business was not the life I wanted to pursue and after only two years and bored with teaching young children, I closed it.  My parents were very disappointed.    

 

After various attempts to become a stage performer, with my dad hovering close by for each performance as a form of protection, I was getting nowhere.   Booking agents couldn't find a venue for me in and around Boston and within driving distance. 

 

At the age of 20, I decided to vacation with friends to Miami Beach, Florida;  the land where the moonbeams entice your senses and the Cuban dance rhythms stimulate your soul.  While staying at the Casablanca hotel, I was approached by a gorgeous male dancer who encouraged me to take some Latin dance classes at their studio.  Complimenting my dance style he wanted me to stay on permanently and teach with him right there at this luxury hotel.  I was mesmerized by his good looks and soon after I informed my friends who all returned home and back to their jobs...minus one .  Now all that was left  for me to do was phone my parents of the news.  Needless to say, they were shocked!  I also called my boyfriend of four years, George Baily, of Dracut MA, who had been patiently awaiting for my return...he was heartbroken but still hopeful. 

 

The rest of my time in Miami matriculated from teaching to dancing in shows.  It was all magical and so un-New England!  But the pay was dismal and my funds soon became depleted; although nearly broke, I pressed on.   After a year of struggling, my folks flew down to "investigate" what I was doing with my life and without convincing them about my quest, I found myself back home in North Andover, MA.  and reunited with my boyfriend.  ​But just two weeks, I received a phone call from one of my Miami dance partners, enticing me to move to the Big Apple telling me that if I want to make it big, I needed to relocate.  Of course, the news wasn't happily received when I informed my parents who had thought they knocked out my silly ideas and dreams of being a movie star and open a dance studio instead...making some REAL money.    However, no amount of advice or scare tactics from everyone including my older brother, Frank, would discourage me from leaving.  And whatever happened to George?  Well, I could not picture myself living on a farm as his wife...I was definitely a CITY KITTY now.     

 

NYC was soooo expensive, and the only thing I found affordable was a tiny, 100 sq ft. room off Broadway in midtown Manhattan.   It was furnished with a single bed, a small chest and a chair...the bathroom was outside in the hall and  SHARED!.    How small was the room?   I'd put the key in the door and break the window.  It was so small, that even the mice were hunchbacked.  The walls were so thin I could hear just about everything going on, especially the stranger next door who would continuously practice on his violin...it was like having a screeching feline whining into all hours.

 

But soon after I was on my way auditioning for various roles on Broadway, TV and film and happy to be in my own space pursuing my dream and not the dream of my parents of marriage and a family.  Perhaps I was ahead of my time and did not follow the usual plight of a young  and single Italian girl.   

 

​​​​​There is so much more to tell but it will all be in my forthcoming book.    So, fasten your seatbelts and join me on this thrilling ride filled with laughter, mouthwatering flavors, and the joy of eating as though in Italy...virtually

 

And just a tip—if my dad were still around today and was asked for a meal review, you would most likely get a satisfied grunt as he would lower his head closer to his plate!   Buon Apetito!!