Christina Collins
By chance alone, I was born with a insatiable appetite for excellent food. I spend my free time reading about it, writing about it, watching it, planning it, basically… obsessing over it. I can’t get enough. My passion is gathering friends and family around the table for Feast & Merriment. My hope is that some of my shared recipes & tips inspire you to do the same.
As far back as I can remember, my favorite place has always been in the kitchen.
I started cooking at a extremely young age. We lived with my first generation Italian great grandmother who never left the kitchen and therefore, neither did I. My earliest cooking memory is her teaching me how to make fresh pasta dough with flour and eggs “in a well.” She taught me how to roll the pasta and make it into “snakes.” She had me grating more mozzarella on a box grater than most adults do in their lifetime! And taught me the greatest tip of all- how to roll the perfect meatball- all by the age of 6. She passed away shortly after this, but I can still feel her presence with me in the kitchen, especially when rolling pasta or making meatballs… and yes, when grating cheese.
I always had a deep rooted desire for every bite to be the best bite, and I still do.
The recipes I share on this site are ones that inspired me to the point of writing about them. They are tried and trusted and a reflection of my personal experiences in the kitchen.
I often say that I must have been a product of nature, not nurture, when it comes to my love of food because neither my parents nor my siblings were not, and are not, foodies. In fact, they are all extremely picky and rather difficult to cook for! And then there is me- Food obsessed.
My love for food started at a very young age. I was never interested in “kids” food like chicken fingers or pasta with butter or even McDonalds. I loved eating with the adults- I wanted the cast iron seared rib eye, sautéed broccoli rabe with garlic, spaghetti with anchovies, pomegranate seeds, clams with garlic sauce, and my favorite snack of all- raw fennel bulb. Not your typical kid snacks.
6 Food Facts About Me
My Cooking POV
Rustically Refined.
Kind of like me!
Favorite Cookbooks
Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa Cookbooks
Favorite Meal
Fresh baguette, a hunk of Parmigiano-Reggiano, and a glass of red wine. And Pizza.
Least Favorite Food
“American” Cheese slices that resemble rubber and come individually wrapped.
Cooking Mantra
“You can always put the salt in, put you can’t take the salt out.”
Wine of Choice
Old world reds from France & Italy
The Pasta Project
Pasta is my yoga. I knead and I roll and I roll some more and it calms me. It’s more than my passion. It’s an obsession.