Food has always been important to me.  It's the feeling of nostalgia, love, warmth, family, friends and occasions.  Food has helped me in happy and sad times.  Food feeds my body and my soul.

When I think of my first real food memory, it involves my Dearma, she was my paternal grandmother.  She made food with love.  She had a humble kitchen but nothing that came out of that kitchen was humble.  Her food was rich and abundant with flavour, time, love and care.  The entire family gathered at her house on many Sundays for dinner.  Growing up in Jamaica, Sunday dinner always involved rice and peas, roast beef, fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, fried plantains and some type of delicious dessert she would make.  Her chocolate cake or chocolate pies are a family tradition and we still talk about them.  There is seldom a day that I don't think about her or  feel her presence when I'm cooking.  I am yet to capture or duplicate anything she made; she cooked by feel, using no recipes.  Her plantain tarts, beef patties and Easter buns were so good.  

My maternal grandfather was no slouch in the kitchen either.  He was famous for curing his fragrant Christmas hams, with cloves and a spiced brown sugar blend.  He taught me so much in the kitchen during the years my brother and I lived with him.  He smoked a pipe and I always helped him create his aromatic pipe tobacco blend; dried tobacco which he packed into a huge glass jar that contained dark Jamaican rum, pimento berries, cinnamon bark, fresh nutmeg, cloves and orange or mango peel. This concoction would then be laid out to dry in the hot Jamaican sun and the aroma was edible. Grandpa also made an amazing steamed Jamaican Christmas pudding.  He was a meticulous and exact man.  

My entire family are foodies.  Some create food while others enjoy good food.  I am the sum of both.  I live to eat good, healthy food and I want to share the importance of this with you.  I will take you on a journey sharing long time memories, while making new ones with my family and friends.  Sharing recipes and my love of kitchen gadgets and ingredients is a passion, so I hope you enjoy this journey with me.