About

What can I say, I’m a food junkie. I love to cook, bake and collect cookbooks. I take after my grandmother who was an exceptional self taught cook. My grandmother was born in 1903, back when everyone ate three meals a day and cooked at home. Grandma only completed the eigth grade, but could read a cookbook as well as if not better than the best. She was passionate about cooking and a great experimenter who had a knack for embellishing recipes when she didn’t have an ingredient, which was quick often. So, when I was child, I got to watch grandma in action in the kitchen. What a treat that was because she always made something new from “scraps” (leftovers).

Grandma made preserves from the fruit on the trees in her yard and canned vegetables from goodies grown in her garden. On any given day, she could be found baking a cake, making pie, or in the summer cranking out homemade ice cream. Before fusion foods were en vogue, my grandmother made foods like egg foo young on Monday, followed by Mexican tamales on Tuesday and Soul Food on Wednesday.  She was an amazing woman, who left an indelible mark on my life.  My mom says my passion for cooking and all things food is in my DNA.  That may be true, but I think a lot of it was the good fortune I had of watching my grandma do her thing.  So this site really is about cookin’ with love and is a tribute to my grandma, Nella Victoria Harris.

Cooking and grandma aside, what I’m most passionate about is desserts.  I spend my free time perfecting miniature desserts; the same desserts you expect to feed a crowd of people, I pare down so they can be enjoyed by one or two people–maybe three.  Rarely do I make a cake in a pan that’s bigger than 6 inches around, albeit 4 layers.  And, my making mini morsels isn’t limited to cupcakes, eventhough I make a few of those.  I look for recipes that can be tweaked to create something new and fabulous and I love uncommon flavor combinations.  I don’t claim to be an expert, but the desserts I do make have been described as divine and sublime… 

With that,  I hope you’ll join me in exploring and creating decadent sweet treats. 

Be sweet & Divalicious!