Me In a Not So Small Nutshell

Me, Luis Robledo, and Mom at Robledo Family Winery, Sonoma, California

Ok, so I know this should have been my first post, but at the time, I didn't feel like answering 21 questions. I don't usually like answering questions about myself because when I'm asked about my favorites, I choke. I'm way too indecisive to have a favorite anything. There are too many wonderful foods, drinks, movies, books...to narrow them down to one favorite. That being said, enjoy getting to know me. Sorry this is long; if you don't feel like reading, it's ok. Just pretend you did.

1. Where are you from?
I'm from Augusta, GA, but I went to college at Auburn University, in Auburn, AL, and I also lived in France while studying.

2. What is your day job?
I work at the Morris Museum of Art as the membership services coordinator.

3. What do you look like?
5'4", light brown hair, blue eyes, pretty much non-descript, which is sometimes a good thing because no one will ever remember you if things get a little out of hand at the bar one night. Sweet.

4. What are your hobbies?
If this blog tells you anything, my favorite hobbies are cooking and subsequently, eating. Others include, reading murder mystery books at the beach, lunching with good friends, running, collecting art and drinking wine.

5. What is your favorite food?
There are too many, but if I had to choose, Nana burger would win. It's funny that a woman who makes the best vegetables, fried chicken and cornbread can made a hamburger that will rock your world, but she can and she does. She pan fries the meat, then while the cheese is melting on the burger, she toasts the buns in the grease from the meat. Slap some mayonaise and ketchup on there with a side of sliced tomato and you could call yourself the luckiest person in the world and you would be.

6. What's your favorite food genre?
I'm pretty much a fan of all food genres. My personal favorites are Mexican, Santa Fe/New Mexican, Greek, Italian and Southern soul food.

7. Describe your last meal.
It would definitely be a hodgepodge of offerings from homecooked vegetables to two desserts and lots of wine. So here goes, begin with one of my dad's famous Margaritas; Janna's Vidalia onion coleslaw; Greek salad from Luigi's restaurant; a Nana burger; squash, green beans, fried okra, fried green tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, sweet corn on the cob, watermelon and cornbread from my Nana's kitchen; a lovely pinot noir and sauvignon blanc from my favorite winery in Sonoma, Robledo Family Winery; my mother's bread pudding; Nana's blackberry cobbler topped with Blue Bell ice cream; and to top it off a small glass of sweet red port. Gosh, I would be full, and not to mention, a little drunk!

8. What's your guilty pleasure?
My daily piece of chocolate after lunch.

9. What is your favorite kitchen utensil?
Definitely my chef's knife. I don't like to use a lot of utensils because I don't like cleaning. I find very creative ways to use only my knife and cutting board.

10. What is your favorite kitchen activity?
Cooking a big fancy meal, drinking wine and listening to music. Pure happiness.

11. What three things are in your refrigerator at all times?
Wine, milk, orange juice

12. Best meal to prepare for a first date?
Shrimp and cheese grits, for a number of reasons. It sounds fancy, but in fact, it's embarrasingly simple. It's a one skillet, one pot meal that exudes Southern comfort with big city style.

13. What are your 3 favorite cookbooks?
In no particular order, The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook, Second Round Tea-Time at the Masters by the Junior League of Augusta,and Williams-Sonoma French cookbook.

14. What is the last thing you ate?
I cooked tonight, and we went all out. Filets wrapped in bacon with creamy gorganzola cheese and port sauce, salad with Arkansas tomatoes and mom's homemade blue cheese dressing, a glass of MacRostie Pinot Noir, Ben and Jerry's Vanilla Heath Bar Crunch with mom's homemade chocolate sauce.

15. Are you a food snob?
Yes and no. I love learning new techniques, reading cookbooks like novels, and traveling to taste foods of the world, but I know where I came from. I am never embarrased to admit that I'd be just as happy to have fried catfish, fresh vegetables, corn bread, and cobbler topped with ice cream as a big fancy meal. Then the food snob comes out, and I'd rather have a glass of wine with that down-home meal than a glass of sweet tea.

16. Where did you learn to cook and appreciate food?
My mother and grandmother. I always loved watching my mother cook. She is quite possibly the messiest cook in the world, but I firmly stand by the fact that if she wasn't messy, her food just wouldn't taste nearly as wonderful. I didn't watch my grandmother as much as I should have, but now that I'm older, and unfortunately so is she, I sit in awe and watch her add a little of this or throw in some of that until a masterpiece unfolds. It's amazing that she doesn't need one recipe to turn out a meal that would please the Queen of England or her hungry grand-daughter. These days, everytime she begins to cook, I stand next to her and write down every ingredient and every technique just hoping and praying that I will pick up the things that make her such a good cook.

17. Who is your favorite chef?
If we're talking about the Food Network, I'd have to say Ina Garten. I really want to be her friend and have her invite me over for a fabulous dinner party. I think we could be great friends, she can cook and I'll eat until my heart, and stomach, are completely content.

18. What's your favorite cocktail?
Indecisive as always, so there is no way I can pick just one cocktail. Here are my top few...my dad's Margarita (his old recipe combined with the ones mother and I brought back from Santa Fe); pomegranate martini; Grey Goose martini, straight up, a little dirty with two olives; velvet hammer from the Augusta Country Club; a lovely glass of pinot noir; and a bloody mary made with fresh tomato juice.

19. Name your top 5 restaurant dining experiences.
1. At my parents house with the owner and executive chef of Bistro 491, Todd Shaffer, in the fall of my freshman year of college
2. Any of the restaurants in Santa Fe, NM
3. Dim sum in San Fransico
4. Hal's in Atlanta for my 20th birthday
5. Buckhead Diner in Atlanta for my 18th birthday, just mom and me.

20. Do you have a huge kitchen?
I can't even open my refridgerator without hitting my island. So, yeah, gigantic.

21. Do you cook every single night?
I wish. Cooking while drinking wine, singing along to the sounds of Frank, Dean and Sammy allows me to lose myself and forget all the troubles of the day. However, there are nights when sometimes a saussage, pepperoni, and olive pizza from Roma's Pizza sounds completely irrersistable.

Thanks Maggie