The Ultimate Passion Feast

Twitter has introduced me to so many wonderful friends. I met Peg on twitter (better known to me as @twinklyred) and finally got to meet her in person on her trip to Napa. She is a person who definitely lives her passion and encourages others to do the same.

“If there is no passion in your life, then have you really lived? Find your passion, whatever it may be. Become it, and let it become you and you will find great things happen FOR you, TO you and BECAUSE of you.” T. Alan Armstrong

My love of food and the cultivation of my creativity started with my grandmother. Not only could that woman cook, but she and local friends grew some amazing veggies! I vividly recall biting into her succulent tomatoes and being rewarded with, beautiful juices running down my cheeks. Ahhh the wonderful taste of food, my grandmother taught me that you could add things together and get amazing results with spices vinegars etc. Life often has twists and turns, my mom divorced my stepdad and we stayed way up in Alaska away from grandma. I often missed her cooking and the comfort it brought. Being the oldest, I recreated that comfort by taking what I learned from grandma to make the simplest, straightforward dish take on a personality of its own.

This need to be creative with food flourished from a simple beginning. As a single parent, Mom was on a pretty tight budget so creating some excitement with food was a challenge. My first creation, a fried egg sandwich, was a hit that generated constant orders from mom’s friends. It was my foray into cooking for the joy of it and, frankly, I haven’t stopped since. My passion to make food taste good and look good had begun. Through my teen and young adult years, doors opened that let me explore that passion which quickly evolved into a second passion as I moved into management with the opportunity to train and motivate people.

I have worked for restaurants, food distributors, food brokers and now I am the Rep for a cocktail mix and dry blending company. It’s a great gig because it combines my two passions: food and people. When I work food shows, I get to see some amazing talents on the big stage as well as sample tantalizing new products like spices, sauces and exotic produce. Working as a rep also lets me work with, motivate and train my broker teams. Yes, selling the product is important, but imparting my passion to them and watching them develop their own passion is rewarding! I am happy to say it shows in the numbers they produce and the fun we have doing it.

My experiences in life and my desire to show others my passion for cooking, wine, and eating “clean” led my brother and I in our creation of FoodieFitness.net My brother and I shared a lifetime passion of taking care of ourselves, staying strong and aging well. I’ve done seven half-marathons and just ran a full marathon (at the age of 50!). My brother rides 30+ miles on his bike and loves circuit training in the gym. My brother is a genius in organic gardening. He has helped me start an organic garden that you will see mentioned in our food site.

My passion of food, connecting with people and healthy living has led me to a very satisfying life. I’ve learned that if you are truly happy to spring out of bed and you lay your head down at night and sleep well, then you have the ultimate passion feast. Your one passion can easily grow into many that feed off of each other and enable you to gobble up life. And if you think your done, look at Oprah and remember what she said, “It’s time to dream a bigger dream”. Gobble on…

Posted by Passaggio Wines