Mihaela

Name: Mihaela Vlad

What city were you born in?  Manglia, Romania

What decade where you born? 1980's 

Three things you remember most from the first decade of your life?

1. I remember I loved to stay with my mom when she would be making her holiday cakes. 

2. Going away to boarding school at 10-yrs-old and feeling very alone. 

3. Getting in a fight with my brother when I was 8 and he was 6 and him punching me and knocking out one of my teeth and for my revenge I punched him back and knocked out three of his teeth. 

What is the dessert?  

Diplomat with Frutti di Bosco

Who would you want to eat this last dessert with and why?  

My love, Luciano, because he deserves it. He's the only one I think in that moment. 

Where would you want to be eating this last dessert?

Outside in the mountains.

What comes to your mind when I say the word FOOD?

When I think to food I think it's my life. I don't live without food. I don't live without having a cake. 

What is the best piece of advice anyone has given you?

I have a lot because I listen. My mom always said to me, "take care what people you choose to have around you". That is very important because I have had a lot of wrong people around me. 

Profession:

Domestic worker

What is your favorite object I can find in your kitchen?

A teacup that was my uncle's who is no longer alive. He used to have his coffee in it every morning. 

Favorite quote?

I don't have one. I don't believe in that or depend on those for inspiration. I live how I think to live. I'm very simple. 

Where do you see yourself in 20 years?

I want to see myself in my home far away from Torino, Italy - back in my house in Romania with my child and with my yard full of flowers.

Three most important things in your life?

1. My parents

2. My child to be

3. Luciano my love

Shelly

Name: Shelly Eversley

What city were you born in? Chicago, Illinois

What decade where you born? 1960's 

Three things you remember most from the first decade of your life?

1. My big wheel that I used to spin out with!

2. I remember making bread with my grandmother - she used to make it on Sunday. She'd give me a piece and I'd make a smiley face with the dough -- but by the time it was out of the oven the shape would have disappeared. 

3. Summers with my cousins in Baltimore.

What is the dessert?

Blood Orange Margarita

Who would you want to eat this dessert with ? 

My BOO, capital M - capital B !  (Her nickname for her husband)

Where would you want to be eating this last dessert?  

Right here at home with my Boo on the sofa that I hate. 

What comes to your mind when I say the word FOOD?

Good food, simple and delicious.  Food that I make, not food that I buy. 

What is the best piece of advice anyone has given you?

It's a long race, pace yourself!  - My mentor Priscilla told me this. 

Profession: 

Professor of Black Studies, Women Studies and Literature

What is your favorite object I can find in your kitchen?

I love my Bullet Blender.

Favorite quote?

"If God can't make us freer and more loving, it's time we got rid of him." - James Baldwin 

Where do you see yourself in 20 years?

In St. Lucia at the beach --  minding my own business with my dog, my Boo and a cocktail.

Three most important things in your life?

1. My books

2. My Boo

3. My dog

alessia

Name: Alessia Chindamo

Decade you were born? 1980’s 

Where were you born?  Torino, Italy

Three things you remember from the first decade of your life?

1. The house of my grandmother.

2. My elementary school teacher La Maestra Vanna.

3. I always drew rabbits. Maybe I had an imaginary friend that was a rabbit I don’t know - I was around 5 yrs old.

What is the dessert? 

Tortino di cioccolato con cuore morbido (Molten chocolate cake)

Who would you want to eat this last dessert with and where?

With my husband on the terrace in the night when it’s dark.

What comes to your mind when i say the word FOOD? 

The smell.

Profession:

Italian Language Teacher for foreigners.

Best advice anyone has ever given you? 

You remain how you are and give yourself the world. My friend wrote it on a note for my 30th birthday and I hang it on my front door.

What is your favorite object  I can find in your kitchen? 

Bimby the Robotic cooker.

What is your favorite quote?

"since then I am because you are,
since then you are, I am, we are,
and through love I will be, you will be, we will be."  - Pablo Neruda

Where do you see yourself in 20 years:

Living in Torino with two kids and in a new house - always a teacher but also with new creative projects - writing a blog about the little things in life.

The three  most important things in your life?

1. My time with people I love.

2. Me and my family’s serenity.

3. To do well my job.

Natalie

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Name: Natalie Cohen

What city were you born in?  New York, New York

Decade born? 1980's 

Three things you remember most from the first decade of your life?

1. Summer trips to Israel to visit grandparents of both of my parents.

2. Playing in Central Park.

3. Peeing my pants from laughing so hard.

What is the dessert?  

Pomegranate

Who would you want to eat this dessert with ?

My brothers, my boyfriend, my dog who died, my grandmothers and my the children who are nearest and dearest to me in my life.

Where would you eat this dessert?

I would like to eat it in a warm sunny environment either leaning on some rocks on a beautiful mountain with a blue view or in the north of Brazil on the beach .

What comes to your mind when I say the word Food?  

My mother, who blessed me and my siblings with her magic touch.

Profession:

 Mover, Teacher, Language specialist.

What is the best piece of advice anyone has given you?

My late grandmother Naomi would always tell me to "laugh at everything" - to take life lightly.

Favorite object I can find in your kitchen?

My good knife!

Favorite Quote: 

Life is like the body. Sometimes you need to move in new ways for the pain to go away -yung pueblo

Where do you see yourself in 20 years ?

Maybe living in some community teaching, dancing, mothering, swimming in oceans, cooking yummy food.

Three most important things in your life?

1. My family

2. My Love

3. My health

Laura

Name: Laura Spesso

Where were you born? Torino, Italy

Decade you were born ? 1960's 

Three things you remember most from the first decade of your life?

1. Riding a bicycle with my father.

2.  My mother's apple strudel and also her orange cake. 

3.  Skiing.

What is the dessert? 

Apple Strudel

Who would you want to eat this last dessert with and why?

 My father because I spent so much time and effort to have a good relationship after my parents divorce.  I’m happy about what I did and proud of what we did.

Where would you be eating this last dessert?

 In my house in the mountains in a town called Cervelli - which means brains in Italian.

When I say the word "food" what comes to mind?

 I have a visual image come to my mind.

What's the best piece of advice anyone has ever given you? 

My mother speaking about freedom. The idea that we must try to be free and decide by ourselves how to live our life. Sometimes I’m not so happy about this idea.  It's hard  - sometimes you have to lose to find the way over some obstacles.

What is your job title?

Partial owner of Cafe Al Bicerin and an accountant at Gelati Pepino.

What is your favorite thing I can find in your kitchen?

It would be my angel figurine from Krakow, Poland.  I think it’s so ugly but i like it so much. I’ve kept her with me for 12 years.

What is your favorite quote? 

It’s some lines from a poem called Considero Valore by Erri De Luca.

"I highly value any form of life, snow, a strawberry, a fly, the mineral kingdom, the constellation of stars.  I highly value all that will not be valuable tomorrow and all that has not yet much value today."

Where do you see yourself in 20 years?

Managing a refuge in the mountains.

Three most important things in your life?

1. My freedom

2. My mind

3. My travels