I have an old photo of my three-year-old self making cookies in my Grandmother’s kitchen. The smile on my face is enormous. It is a smile of pure joy. My life has taken many twists and turns but I have returned again and again to the kitchen. It is the heart-center of the home, the driving force of many a business, and the place I feel most comfortable.
Being an only-child I was afforded the opportunity to eat in restaurants more often than children from larger families. I loved to try new things, had an instinctual attention to detail, and developed an advanced palate early on in life. My favorite place to be was at my grandmother’s house where I was given free-reign in the kitchen and could conduct all manner of culinary experiments.
In high school I enjoyed cooking for my friends and family. When we were given vocational aptitude tests at school mine came back with “chef” as the profession that would best suit me. I had never met a chef at that time and as far as I knew you couldn’t be a chef unless you studied in France. Based on that imperfect information I went off to college intending to pursue my runner up aptitude prognosis: history teacher.
As a sophomore in college I began working part time in small vegetarian restaurant. Soon I noticed that no matter how many hours I put in there I still wanted to cook when I got home. This seemed a significant realization to me. I switched to culinary school and began my journey to becoming a chef.
In my twenties I worked in many wonderful restaurants in Kansas City. I had the opportunity to, learn from several talented chefs. For two years I was sous chef of Café Sebastienne in the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. It was there I met James--also an aspiring chef at the time--now my husband. We were drawn together by our love of excellent food and sarcasm. Later, I became chef of a thriving Middle Eastern bistro with a huge wine list and a dedicated following of wine connoisseurs and lovers of exotic flavors.
Finally, though, urban life began to feel overwhelming. In a desire for more simplicity and community we came to live in Springfield: my hometown.
I catered for many years and worked part-time at small restaurants but never found my niche. Then I had my amazing daughter Frances and discovered all the joys and challenges of motherhood. This is when I realized I had a true passion for helping people eat well with less work. I know what it means to be very busy and still want to put wholesome food on my family table. That is when Grassroots was born. My intention has always been to make healthy food easier for busy people to enjoy.
Now as we move into a new phase I am committed to finding improved ways of providing my clients with the highest quality food possible that they can serve to their families as easily as possible.
