I come from a family that embraced international culture. My dad was a college professor and mom was a high school English teacher. We always seemed to have a few extra people at the dinner table, quite often students from other countries. At the time mom was a stay at home mom, she was always trying recipes to make the foreign students feel a bit more at home. Met lots of interesting people that way over the years, some we are still in contact with even 35+ years later.

Another favorite of mine is a Cuban meat pies; Pastelitos we had a Cuban neighbor when we lived in Tallahassee, FL back in the late 60's, she and mom swapped all sorts of recipes that still survive in our kitchen today.

I love to eat and love to cook, but my job keeps me from doing much cooking (spend around 250-270 days a year on the road) but I make do.

Aaron