I decided to start my own in-home cooking service because I have a passion for cooking. I grew up in a family of cooks, not with professional culinary training, but with their own passion for cooking. I was blessed to experience the ethnic cooking of great-grandparents and grandparents from Czechoslovakia. Pierogies (stuffed pasta), Halupki (stuffed cabbage), and Gule (plum dumplings) were frequently family meals, and still are.

I remember my first cooking experience when I was in fifth grade; that is when I learned that I enjoyed cooking. My fifth grade teacher had a stove/oven in the classroom. Once a week a group of students would have to prepare a dish for the rest of the class. I looked forward to having the chance to cook (and eat all the other cooks' food too!). I still have the recipe for "Snickerdoodle" cookies that my group made once, and I make them every Christmas.

My parents have owned a campground business for over 25 years, and it includes a diner and catering service. My dad is a wonderful cook and actually taught my mother how to cook when they got married. During the summers, they would work together at the camp, so my brother, sister, and I would be responsible for preparing the evening meals to have ready when they came home. There were many fun times experimenting and creating delicious meals. There were also several cooking "blunders" that we still laugh about today, but that is how you learn.

Consequently, I learned to cook at a young age. I became more aware of healthy eating in my early teenage years, so I started doing more of my own cooking. I made the decision to become a vegetarian in 1994, although I have basically been eating that way most of my life. My husband is not a vegetarian, but he and any dinner guests that we entertain (which we do quite often) enjoy a variety of vegetarian meals.

I have worked at my father's campground and diner since the 1970's in various capacities including running the store, serving ice cream, and making pizzas for the campers. I have also worked with him in the diner washing dishes, waiting tables, preparing salads and helping setup, cook, serve, and deliver for various catered events. I continue to help him whenever I am back home visiting. Several recipes I prepare for my clients I shared with my father, and they are now part of his menu at his diner. I also cooked at Wellspring Grocery, now Whole Foods, in Raleigh, where I learned, and appreciate, the importance of cooking with natural, healthy foods.

I am a member of the American Personal Chef Association and the Personal Chefs Network. I am certified in safe food handling, and I am licensed and insured.