donnagodfrey
Assistant Cook
- Joined
- Dec 29, 2006
- Messages
- 10
My name is Donna Godfrey and I live in Atlanta, Ga.
My cooking journey is quite a fun one......I was raised in Lancaster County, Pa as a Mennonite My Grandma had Amish background. So I leaned some basic Pa. Dutch Cooking. I did most of the cooking by the age I was 12. We lived on a small farm.....
I married and moved to South Florida and worked with the Mennonite Church in a farm workers community. I cooked 3 meals a day for our 100+ nursery children that came to the daycare. I soon saw the majority Mexican kids did not like bland cooking and so I asked could I have the mothers teach me some Mexican cooking in turn they would be excused from paying......that was agreed upon and so I had the best Mexican friend cooks....I loved it. Than the Puerto Rican and Cuban mothers asked to teach me their specialities and finally a Seminole mother taught me some great dishes. While all this was happening I was learning to cook good Southern dishes....Greens and black-eye peas, okra and black skillet cornbread became special to us......as did seasoning with side meat and having homemade bisuits and sausage gravy and yes, chocolate gravy!
A move to Sarasota and a French neighbor broadened my cooking. Than a wonderful friend taught me Greek dishes and Swedish ones also. We went shrimping and fishing and that added many seafood dishes.
Another move after a divorce took the kids and I Salem, Oregon and salmon became a favorite thing to play with as did the wonderful berries and fruits.
I remarried and moved to his home state of Ga. Again I learned another bunch of southern recipes from my MIL. She was a proper Southern lady that loved teas and cheese straws and all things Victorian. I loved this too. Than my husbands Uncle Joe moved in with us....he was a Southern Chef all his life and he was a great teacher!
A move to Atlanta put us in a apartment community and neighbors over the years have taught me Italian, Persian, Chinese and Russian cooking. With each lady I leaned so much. Lately Brazilian families have moved in and I love these dishes too.....
So I hope to learn a loy and share a lot.
Happy New Year!
My cooking journey is quite a fun one......I was raised in Lancaster County, Pa as a Mennonite My Grandma had Amish background. So I leaned some basic Pa. Dutch Cooking. I did most of the cooking by the age I was 12. We lived on a small farm.....
I married and moved to South Florida and worked with the Mennonite Church in a farm workers community. I cooked 3 meals a day for our 100+ nursery children that came to the daycare. I soon saw the majority Mexican kids did not like bland cooking and so I asked could I have the mothers teach me some Mexican cooking in turn they would be excused from paying......that was agreed upon and so I had the best Mexican friend cooks....I loved it. Than the Puerto Rican and Cuban mothers asked to teach me their specialities and finally a Seminole mother taught me some great dishes. While all this was happening I was learning to cook good Southern dishes....Greens and black-eye peas, okra and black skillet cornbread became special to us......as did seasoning with side meat and having homemade bisuits and sausage gravy and yes, chocolate gravy!
A move to Sarasota and a French neighbor broadened my cooking. Than a wonderful friend taught me Greek dishes and Swedish ones also. We went shrimping and fishing and that added many seafood dishes.
Another move after a divorce took the kids and I Salem, Oregon and salmon became a favorite thing to play with as did the wonderful berries and fruits.
I remarried and moved to his home state of Ga. Again I learned another bunch of southern recipes from my MIL. She was a proper Southern lady that loved teas and cheese straws and all things Victorian. I loved this too. Than my husbands Uncle Joe moved in with us....he was a Southern Chef all his life and he was a great teacher!
A move to Atlanta put us in a apartment community and neighbors over the years have taught me Italian, Persian, Chinese and Russian cooking. With each lady I leaned so much. Lately Brazilian families have moved in and I love these dishes too.....
So I hope to learn a loy and share a lot.
Happy New Year!