In the Beginning

I grew-up in a home with two women who loved to cook and entertain, my mother and my maternal grandmother. My grandmother arrived in the US from Russia when she was a young teen. Her specialties were the baked goods of the old country: kuchens, strudels, and sweet cakes.

My mother, on the other hand, was a thoroughly modern American cook. Jell-O, condensed cream of mushroom soup, bottles of Italian salad dressing, all of these wonderful convenience foods of the 60's had a central role in both her daily and special occasion repertoire. By the time I was in high school, though, her monthly gourmet club dinners were broadening her palate, techniques, and ingredient list.

Not surprisingly, with encouragement from my mother, one of my first purchases after graduating from college was an eleven-piece starter set of Le Creuset cookware. Thirty years later, that cookware is still the workhorse of my kitchen, and a link to memories of so many wonderful meals with family and friends.