Hi there from Bothell, WA (suburb of Seattle)

[HélèneJ]

Just joined the forum and looking forward to improving my skills by learning from the members. My grandfather was chef at the Carleton hotel in NY and his brother ( my great uncle) was his pastry chef. Sadly, my grandfather died when I was 2 but I think his love of cooking was passed down in the genes. On my mother’s side, both my grandmother and mother were good traditional French home cooks. So basically I think if I didn’t enjoy cooking, I probably would have been sent back for repairs! Lol I can still remember sitting on my grandmother’s lap and collecting the vegetable peelings to make “dinner” for my dolls! And the rest is history...

[Smithy]

Welcome! What sort of cooking do you like to do now? Do you cook only for yourself, or for a family with its own collective ideas about what's good? Do you have any of your grandfather's or great-uncle's notes?

[kayb]

Welcome! Would love to hear some of your family's traditional French home cooking recipes.

 

[Kim Shook]

Welcome to eG, @HélèneJ!  Like the others said, I'd love to know more about what you like to cook/eat and your background.  We are busybodies here and love to get all in your business!  LOL

[HélèneJ]

Thank you for the warm welcome! Let’s see...where to start...I grew up in areas of New York City where at the time you still had very ethnic neighborhood shops, mainly Italian. So I was exposed to all sorts of foods as a child including organ meats (gives you a clue to the fact that I’m a “senior” 😉 since I think they stopped selling that in the US a while ago). I will eat almost anything except raw tomatoes...which is pretty funny since I grow gorgeous tomatoes but will only eat them cooked in some fashion. As to who do I cook for, it’s just my husband and I and he’s most appreciative of all my “tried-and-trues” as well as my experiments. I have a step-daughter in Utah and she and her husband appreciate my cooking but their three girls have a “limited” palate but I keep trying when we visit.
Regrettably I have no notes or recipes from either my grandfather or my grandmother. My mother knew how to make the most perfect roast chicken (she would check it every 15 minutes) but that’s all I remember. I’m basically self-taught. Don’t laugh but when I moved to the west coast (for work) I bought several books of the time life series that featured different country’s cuisine and just started cooking! I still experiment with different international recipes but usually gravitate to French or Italian. While I’ve been told I’m a good cook (main courses, etc), I don’t consider myself a baker. That’s a separate art form and in fact one reason I joined the forum so I could ask a question about pâté brisée (which I did in the pastry and baking section). Sorry if this went too long but there you have it! 🤗

[Kim Shook]

Don't be ashamed!  That Time-Life series was fantastic.  A lot of us own many of them and love them.  @David Ross gave me a fabulous cannelloni recipe that I still use and it was from one of those books.  How long did you live in NYC?  I can imagine that that contributed to your food education!

[David Ross]

2 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

Don't be ashamed!  That Time-Life series was fantastic.  A lot of us own many of them and love them.  @David Ross gave me a fabulous cannelloni recipe that I still use and it was from one of those books.  How long did you live in NYC?  I can imagine that that contributed to your food education!

Kim I was just thinking about those cannelloni the other day.  I  am blessed that my folks left me the entire Time-Life Foods of the World Series and I refer to them often.  Also in that Italy book is my basis for pizza dough recipe, and a wonderful true lasagne.  

[Okanagancook]

I used to cook almost exclusively from the TimeLife books...Italy. France. Great Britain. China,, Spain ,Germany,India,and Craig Clairborne books.  Great book.

,

[HélèneJ]

David, that was the first lasagna I ever made and it’s a great recipe! Still use the basics of it and then add my own variations.

Kim, I lived in NYC until about a year or so after college then lived in Portland, OR for a few years got transferred to San Francisco and lived there for almost 15 years. Lived 6 months in France then was in Austin, TX (back to university) for 6 years and now it’s just outside of Seattle. Our daughter would like us to move closer (to Salt Lake) but it’s too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer. Seattle is just right! 🤗

[TdeV]

Hello @HélèneJ. There are many fine folk here at eGullet – incredibly full of information you had no idea you wanted to know! Welcome.

[Kim Shook]

14 hours ago, HélèneJ said:

David, that was the first lasagna I ever made and it’s a great recipe! Still use the basics of it and then add my own variations.

Kim, I lived in NYC until about a year or so after college then lived in Portland, OR for a few years got transferred to San Francisco and lived there for almost 15 years. Lived 6 months in France then was in Austin, TX (back to university) for 6 years and now it’s just outside of Seattle. Our daughter would like us to move closer (to Salt Lake) but it’s too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer. Seattle is just right! 🤗

Well, toss in a sojourn in England and you've basically lived the life (geographically) that I'd love to have.  Lots of wonderful food influences, for sure!