I am a relatively competent cook and a travel junkie who is also a white-knuckled frequent flyer. My friends would say that I am a crazy dog lady, while I prefer to think of myself as a zealous animal lover. I am also a published author, seriously type A, with a touch of OCD; a wife, mother and grandmother of a beautiful little girl named Paisley. She's my sous chef and I'm her Coco and I love her more than truffle oil. I spent three years as a chef on a private charter yacht that my hubs (aka The Big Guy) and I operated in the BVI's. Living on a boat and working in a small galley challenges even the most accomplished chef, let alone some like me who is really just a serious foodie with a sophisticated palate. My cookbook, "Sauce du Jour, The Pisces Collection" is a compilation of about 40 recipes that I often served while on the boat. (blurb.com.) Recipe requests from guests was the inspiration behind it. I write a food blog that has never won any awards but it does have a lot of damn good recipes on it, not to mention some funny stories. You can check it out at www.saucedujour.blogspot.com. I became a published author in 2011. My book, "When the Dust Settled" (Amazon, B&N) is getting great reviews and is soon to be made into a movie. Hollywood just doesn't know it yet! Besides being a lucky wife, loving mom, adoring grandmother, and food snob, I consider myself to be a loyal friend, good party planner, wino, a workaholic, seriously sleep deprived, and a shopping fool with a shoe addiction. Oh, and I'm pretty funny too! I hope you enjoy these recipes and have as much fun making them as we did in the SdJ Culinary Institution. Feel free to contact me with any questions regarding any of the recipes I've put here. Cheers!