I entitled this page “Just Jo” because most people question my name.   Did you say Jill?  It must be short for Joanna or Josephine, right?  I reply the same every time… “No, it is just Jo!”  Well, who is “just Jo”?

I start out my story when I was in my mother’s womb.  It was my cousins birthday and she was rolling out the pasta dough for ravioli when she went into labor.  I am certain that I wanted out so I could play with the dough and feel its smooth and silky texture, so that I could experience the bite of the cooked pasta.  As you can gather, my family heritage is Italian.  I grew up making pasta.  I wanted to make it with Grandma Tenore, Noni Consalvi and my mother so I could see all their different techniques and settle on the best each had to offer.

My love for food deepened through international travel to Italy, Spain and England.  When quick jaunts weren’t enough, my husband and I moved to Hong Kong and lived there for nearly three years.  We visited a variety of Asian and South East Asian countries.   In my travels I fell in love with cappuccino, tapas, scones, dumplings, noodles, spicy stir-fries…and the list could go on.  It started me on a adventure of cooking different cuisines, authentically.

I am self-taught.  I love to research recipes, techniques and the best ingredients to buy.  I enjoy scouring the area for international markets and finding the freshest ingredients at the lowest price.  I have taken some cooking classes as well.  I am all about home cooking…spiced up home cooking!  I want it to be doable, daring, and fresh.  I am also ServSafe certified which is a food safety training by the National Restaurant Association.

I have been teaching cooking classes for the last nine years.  First, it was through a Community Enrichment Program and now it is through my own business.  I also coordinate a lunch program at a K-12 school.  Besides my cooking endeavors, I am a teacher’s assistant at a preschool, have a degree in social work and am the mother to three children.  So, I guess that is “Just Jo” in a nutshell!