Going to Italy opened my eyes to all different styles and flavors. I was fascinated with watching the old ladies make fresh pasta on a little kitchen table and the joy they got out of doing it with love and passion.

They were excited to teach their craft to an outsider.

That's when I learned that simple fresh is best for robust flavors and spices. It seems that American cuisine has the same or more ingredients; however, we tend to overdo how much we use. Authentic Italian cooking does not use all the extra stuff like 10 cloves of garlic and this spice and that. As Mary would say "semplice semplice" (simple, simple) and "fresco sempre fresco" (fresh always fresh).Those little secrets and more taught me how to cook in traditional authentic style.