What are your interests or hobbies? What are you passionate about?

My true loves are traveling, reading, and of course, cooking and entertaining. I am an avid student and very curious by nature so I am passionate about learning something new all the time.

What is your favorite type of food/cuisine?

American comfort food with lots of cakes, pies and muffins thrown in.

What is your favorite/funniest/most embarrassing food memory? Please provide an anecdote.

Growing up, I was not really allowed in the kitchen but I always secretly wanted to cook. I would use the microwave to try out new dishes from time to time as it was the least amount of mess I could make and not get caught. As you can imagine, the results were quite disgusting. And then

because I was too afraid to taste my own cooking, I used to pay my younger brother a quarter (25 cents) to eat the result of my cooking experiments. The money was well earned as he even threw up once after tasting something I had made!

From whom did you learn to cook? When did you start cooking? Or, What is the best party you have ever attended or thrown?

I am self-taught. I love to read cookbooks. I sometimes curl up in bed and read a cookbook from cover to cover, like a good romance novel. I savor the recipes in my head as I read them. It’s the best kind of vicarious living.

Which charity, if any, do you support?

Food for Cause and Indira Gandhi International Academy, a school that houses and educates refugee children in Indialivepage.apple.com