From The Ground Up

I was born into a family full of powerful, creative, beautiful women. Growing up, I remember feeling I needed to back my Dad up (well...for the most part) because he was surrounded by so many girls and women with strong opinions on everything, all the time! This was the norm, except when tall, loud Uncle Danny visited a few times a year and got into the scotch with Dad (bless both their souls) at which point I would stand in front of my mother and give them what for. But overall, Mom was the boss and the cook, Dad was the provider and the cuddly one. They both made me laugh.


As a growing girl, my mother cooked just about every meal I ate until I moved away, unless I was out visiting friends and having sleep overs, then I got to eat the 'fun' stuff. In the teen years, I was allowed to experiment a little in her sacred kitchen space, an immaculate organized lab where she produced meal upon meal with barely a trace of mess after it was served. 


Every meal I ate was the result of a masterful ability to stretch a dollar from one end of the home to the other. The woman that served up my daily food was someone who, at the age of ten in 1933, was very aware of not having to line up at the local soup kitchen to get her meals, or having to be on 'relief' resulting from the Great Depression. Her food history is a whole other piece of writing to come.

I was ten in 1977 and living in the luxury of suburbia pondering existential questions in the bathroom. I remember standing in front of the mirror pinching my arm skin and looking into my eyes, repeating "what is that? what is Samantha?" I very strange feeling swept over me and it scared me. This inquiry has continued to evolve and change over my forty-four year journey. 

My eternal love of food, cooking and eating meals with family and friends and asking those quiet questions, is the foundation for this blogging experience. What does healthy living really mean?


I hope you enjoy.