海角大神

In 2007, while visiting my friend M, she聽suggested that I start a blog. 鈥淲hat would I blog about?鈥� I questioned. 鈥淔ood, of course鈥� she replied. Before I left the comfort of her Maine apartment, the name Whipped had popped into my head and I had begun searching the blogosphere to get my feet wet.

I clicked here and there, drawn in by photos, personable voices and recipes. So many delectable recipes. Some of my early favorites and regular reads were , , and . It was such a new phenomenon to form a relationship with someone you never met. Sometimes e-mails were exchanged, we added links to each other鈥檚 sites and occasionally I wondered if we would ever meet in person.聽

I鈥檝e always had a particular affinity for Luisa who writes the blog The聽. As her many followers agree, Luisa鈥檚 honest, conversational voice is easy to read. She has a way of expressing and exploring her vulnerabilities that contradictorily leads you to admire her strength. There are some similarities in our lives that always led me to believe we were kindred spirits.

For the past months, I have anxiously awaited Luisa鈥檚 new book, . I was fortunate to receive an advance copy. For a week, I was short on sleep, staying up late to fit in just one or two more chapters.

In her new memoir, Luisa鈥檚 approachable style is intact but I think that her writing is even better. She guides us through the chapters of her life, sharing an unusual multi-cultural childhood and the story of a heart-swelling romance. In between, you鈥檒l find heartache, triumph, sadness and discovery. At the end of each chapter, Luisa treats the reader to a recipe that is closely tied to the writing.

Truly, I can鈥檛 remember a book that I鈥檝e read in recent years that gave me such warm feelings. Somehow, her stories make you feel hopeful and positive about the human condition, even with its hurdles and heartache. 聽I wrote to Luisa to congratulate her and share my excitement about her book. She was gracious enough to entertain some of my interview questions:

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. In your book, you don鈥檛 talk much about your breakfast preferences. Does it change depending on what country you are in?
聽It does change! When I鈥檓 in the States, I eat cereal, because no one does cereal better than Americans do. Grape Nuts, Cheerios, Autumn Harvest, oh man, I love a good bowl of cold cereal. It鈥檚 one of the things I miss the most, foodwise, about living in the US. In Italy, I follow my mother鈥檚 lead and eat cookies for breakfast, dipped in my hot cup of tea. I don鈥檛 love cookies for breakfast 鈥� I can never shake the niggling feeling that I鈥檝e started the day off on the wrong foot, but it鈥檚 only a few times a year, so I try to live a little. In Germany, it鈥檚 a few slices of dark, seeded bread with butter and honey or jam. And a bowl of nice, sour yogurt. Delicious.

Which cooking tool do you have the biggest love affair with? You know, the one that feels almost sensual in your hands, the one with which you couldn鈥檛 barely live without.
聽I edited a few of Alton Brown鈥檚 cookbooks in my old job and as a thank you after finishing one of them, Alton sent me a Santoku knife from his knife line. I鈥檇 never used a Santoku before, I thought they were sort of a 鈥渢rendy鈥� knife that I wouldn鈥檛 have much use for, but, boy, was I in for a surprise. The knife has become the most important thing in my kitchen, along with a square lipped plastic cutting board that I鈥檓 obsessed with. The knife is the perfect size for my small hands, is incredibly sharp, has a wonderful warm wooden handle, chops and slices and dices like a dream. It really feels like an extension of my hands when I use it. No other knife comes close.

You speak three languages fluently? Or, more? What language do you speak with your husband?
聽I actually speak four: English, German, Italian, and French. My husband and I speak German together, though he鈥檚 always telling me to speak more English with him, which I rarely do. Old habits die hard, I guess. But I鈥檓 in charge of teaching our son English, so now that Hugo鈥檚 around, I do speak a lot more English at home.

You grew up stretched between different cultures and countries. Have you thought about how you will expose your son to all of his rich heritage while offering him the sense of home and wholeness that you missed?
聽I have thought about it a lot, actually! First of all, I hope his dad and I stay together, as I think that being happy parents is the most important part of providing stability and happiness for a child. Beyond that, I think it鈥檚 just a matter of making him realize through our actions every day that he is adored and beloved by us, whether we鈥檙e home in our apartment in Berlin or at my mother鈥檚 house in Italy or visiting my dad in the States. He鈥檒l obviously be a well-traveled kid, but I hope he never associates the sadness that I feel when I travel 鈥� I want him to feel limitless excitement when he gets to the airport, not the sort of stomach-churning anxiety that I鈥檝e never been able to shake, even all these years later.

What do you crave when you are sick? Your ultimate comfort food.
聽I don鈥檛 have much of an appetite when I鈥檓 sick! A bowl of Cheerios with cold milk will usually do 鈥� but now that I can鈥檛 have those anymore, it鈥檚 a bowl of pastina in broth. That鈥檚 what my mother used to make me when I was sick as a kid.

Would you rather give up cheese or chocolate for the rest of your life?
聽Man, that鈥檚 a hard question! I can鈥檛 imagine never putting Parmigiano on my spaghetti again. But I think I eat a piece of chocolate almost every day. So. Cheese? Gah! No! Chocolate? Eep!