Why blog?

Ok...so why do I want to start blogging?...about food?!

Well, I've always had a passion for food. Specifically, I love cooking food. My family always tells me I should open a restaurant! But, I especially love cooking for family and friends. So I am most happy in my own kitchen surrounded by people who I love who love to eat!

I am Canadian but maybe more importantly, I am Italian.....enough said? Italian's LOVE food. Specifically, we love our own food! I come from a foodie family. I remember when I was a kid, some of the best memories I have are centered around family getting together, cooking, then eating. Then a few hours later, doing it all over again. So today, I'm going to start at the beginning and take you back to my life....where my passion for food began. I will continue on and blog about my life a little every day taking you through my gastronomic journey.....HOPE you enjoy!

Most of our family get togethers centered around my mom's side of the family. My mom and her brothers and sisters immigrated to Canada from Italy at a young age leaving behind their mom and two older sisters. My mom was only 16 when she came here. So, she and her sister and three brothers spent a lot of time together...they had to! So obviously time spent together meant more than just brothers and sisters spending time together. To them, it represented FAMILY. They were all they had. Being together helped them all transition to living in a new country, without their parents or other family and friends.

My mother is Friulana from the Friuli region of Italy. It's a very small region on the North/Eastern tip of Italy near Venice. A lot of the food we all love & eat today comes from this region. We love our polenta (cooked and served soft, or poured into a pyrex to harden, to be eaten tomorrow by slicing, then roasted under the broiler), gnocchi, rabbit, quails, pasta with our Sunday sugo, ..... oh I could go on. And I will. Another day.... So continuing on with my story, my mom and her brothers and sister cooked the Friulan way. 

When the family immigrated to Canada, they all started out in Toronto. My Aunt L (won't use names as I don't know if they would like this...yet) and my Uncle L, or Gnagne L and Barbe G (as we say in Furlan) were the first two here. They were the leaders. And they ruled the roost. Next followed my Barbe V, my mom and last but not least her brother, Barbe A.

So, there's the beginning of my story. I will start by recalling my childhood memories about family times, cooking, eating and everything in between. I will post pictures, and I will post recipes. And I will take you through my life's journey through MY food!

Stay tuned....I'll post more tomorrow!!