Raw Sunflower Salad with Mustard Greens

Cooking Philosophy:

Every moment of every day has a perfect recipe or food to match it. It could be as simple as grabbing an apple before you walk out the door on a fall morning. It could be enormously complex - a weaving together of farm-harvested apricots and plum in a puree for a meaningful filling between layers in a decadent wedding cake. You know it when it happens. You are cold to the bone until a bowl of rich beef broth with meaty mushrooms warms you. I seek out the needs of these moments and try to pair a nourishing recipe to round out my life with the joy of food. When I step into the kitchen, my mind maps the presence of every food and implement that I possess (and sometimes, that my roommates possess). I only measure when I'm baking. Even though I'm in my 20's, I tend to behave like an Italian nona when I cook. I don't like interruption and don't need help because my style is down to a science. I clean as a cook, and when it's complete, I like everyone to come to the table and eat with me. It's a community thing. Food enriches life. I have dreams about food and I'm nearly always hungry. I view that state of hunger as part of a larger hunger for life. The whole process, from creation to consumption is artistic and it satisfies me.

Favorite Things I Like to Cook:

I have learned a great deal about cooking from my friend Natalie, who has a beautiful style, the way some gardeners have a green thumb. With her, every story about food leads to another story, but I will just tell you about her sourdough. Natalie chose to use grapes to make her starter. She fermented delicate red-skinned grapes to the point of sweet perfection, then used white spelt flour to build her dough. Her dough was the airiest, most magical white mass I'd ever seen. She taught me to bake bread, and I made my own braid with cherry preserves the way my mom and I had when I was little.

Favorite Foods:

Thai Shrimp Soup, Sticky Toffee Pudding, cold Concord Grapes, sustainably harvested Wild Alaskan Salmon, Little Debbie Zebra Cakes, homemade gumbo, Reuben sandwiches, Bratwurst, Edible Flowers, a good cup of coffee

(More about My Preferences)