Cookbooks
For as long as I can remember, food has played an integral role in my life. From sharing family dinners to baking my mom's cookies for new friends, food has become one of my favorite ways to connect with people.
In 2019, after hosting regular weekend dinner parties for friends, I began to explore cooking professionally. This would kick of an adventurer in which I learned from some of Boston's top chefs, explored private catering, traveled Europe to study wine, and earned my WSET 2 certification.
Over the years, I have fostered my love for food, personal cooking abilities, and interest in photography–these cookbooks are one result.
Cooking In Quarantine
In an attempt to keep my productive energies occupied during quarantine throughout the summer of 2020, I dove headlong into cooking. In a composition notebook, I recorded recipes, shopping lists, weather conditions, and notes on everything I cooked for my family.
I cooked my way through a variety of styles, cuisines, and experiments. While I was not going to have the opportunity to move to Austin, TX to study barbecue as I had hoped, I delighted in summer afternoons spent in the driveway with the smoker I had purchased.
My cookbook, "Cooking In Quarantine,"serves as a reproduction of some of my favorite recipes from 2020. It includes all original recipes and photography. The set of the book was chosen to reflect the original composition notebook in the hopes that friends and family may continue to share in some of the happy memories made during such unprecedented times.
From Mom's Kitchen: Desserts
Created in 2017 as an independent study in photography, From Mom's Kitchen: Desserts was my first cookbook and my first real foray into the world of cooking. Throughout this project, I learned how to bake the recipes alongside my mom, practiced studio lighting techniques, and designed a layout which enabled me to share the stories behind the recipes as well as the instructions themselves.
Food has long been one of my favorite ways to tell a story. This book serves as an ode to the matriarchs of my family, linked in their love of baking and sharing time with their families. The meat grinder on the rear cover originally belonged to my great-grandmother before making its way to my mother. It performs an instrumental role in making the filling for our family cookie, Kolachki (sadly omitted).
To date, copies of this cookbook have made their way into the homes of friends and family far and wide. Now, my mom's baking is able to reach further than ever before, and it is always so exciting to see some of our family favorites make appearances at the homes of our dear friends.
