The perfect team — He cooks, I critique!

Whenever Mark and I share a meal with friends, someone asks him for his recipes. I started this blog so that we could share our favorites with all the friends, friends of friends, and beyond who enjoy food from my husband's kitchen.

Mark David, My Husband

Mark started cooking for me on our second date; he made homemade pasta and Bananas Foster. They were his specialties – i.e., the only thing he could cook. He had no kitchen table or chairs, so we ate on "tray tables", sitting on the floor of his apartment, in the North End of Boston. That was 1982.

He soon learned that cooking was a great way to relax from his day-job. He spends every weekend in the kitchen trying out new recipes, or perfecting old ones.

Over the years, he improved; so much so, that he has been invited by two different chefs in Provence to join them in their restaurant kitchens for an evening. Today, he has a much wider ranging repertoire, and (don’t tell him I said this…) has become a great cook.

Karen Sale, The Author

I grew up as a third culture kid; meaning that, although my parents and I are American, I was raised for many years in other countries and cultures. I have a French/Belge thing going on; but I come by it honestly. My mother, born in a small town south of Boston, grew up in Normandy and Paris. My father, moved from California to France when he was 20 to study architecture at l'École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. They met and married in Paris. Eventually they moved back to the states. I grew up, for a time in northern California... then to the Mexican border in SoCal, then to the "OC" (Orange County). When I got to high school we moved to Brussels. We spent our weekends in Paris and summers on the French Riviera. We had always alternated between French and English at home... so, like it or not, Francophilia happened! I've also lived in Hawaii, in 1965 it was a very new state; only 6 years old. I was 10, my little sister 7. It was very different from today's Hawaii: kids didn't have to wear shoes to school, learning to hula was mandatory in 2nd grade and we all spoke Pidgen – a creole dialect based partly on English.

Growing up, I was continually exposed to different types of people and their food – French, Polynesian, Asian, Belge, Dutch, Moroccan, Mexican, Greek. My mom cooked everything in wine and never learned to make – I am happy to say - pot roast. So, I'm a real foodie, and rarely shy away from anything - except pot roast!

My job is to critique. I've tasted it all – the good, the bad, the ugly and the "interesting"... but by now I’m confident that most of what comes out of my husband's kitchen is going to be a real treat!