Accidental Chef

I call myself the ‘accidental chef’. When I was little, I did not proclaim I was going to cook for hundreds of people one day. I thought I was going to do something else, anything else. I took my first restaurant job at sixteen and fell in love with the hospitality industry. I have an extremely outgoing personality, some say I am a major Type A, and loved meeting and talking to people. From then on, I just could not leave the business. Believe me, I tried on several occasions.

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Leap of Faith

My career path started as a front of the house manager; however, as part of training I was required to spend time in the kitchen learning recipes and on long the way picked up different skills. My love for the front of house was tested because I was falling deeper in love with the back of the house. This is where the ‘accidental’ part comes in. Through the years, I kept learning from the restaurant chefs everything I could from the simplest techniques to amazing plating details all the while still managing the front of house. It was not until I returned to my hometown, I decided to take the leap of faith and open my own catering company, Blue Dragonfly Catering.

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My Love for Food

My company focuses on Mediterranean cuisine. This is not just Italian or Greek, but from almost all countries surrounding the sea including France, Spain, Egypt, and Moroccan. I also love doing German food because of my heritage. Nothing like a good Jaegerschnitzel on a cold winter night! However, I love the challenge of learning new cuisines and developing recipes of my own. Outside of catering, I do private in-home cooking classes along with larger classes held in my commercial kitchen. I love the look of amazement from my students, both youth and adult, when they learn a fun tip or trick in the kitchen or when they learn a recipe is simple to make even though the name or instructions look difficult. It is fun to bring wonder, joy, and knowledge to those I have taught.

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Cooking for Icons

My most rewarding time as a chef has been catering to classic music talent such as REO, Lyle Lovett, ZZ Top, Chicago, Peter Frampton, Vince Gill, and Styx just to name a few.  I never thought in a million years my career would bring me face to face with rock and country icons.

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Dreams Fulfilled

Through my experience, I have been able to travel extensively, live in Paris, France for a while, become a business owner and now, launching my own line of olive oils, balsamic vinegars, and signature spice blends. Becoming the ‘accidental chef’ is a career path I did not see when I was younger, but has led to fulfill my dreams of travel, teaching and meeting people I would have never met.