The name Macarons and Martinis was inspired by a trip to Paris with my mom back in 2018. She had this entire itinerary planned for us already, and asked me if there was anything that I really wanted to do there that she hadn’t planned, and immediately I knew I wanted to do a cooking or baking class while there.

Ten minutes later, we had a private class booked for the following morning with “Succulent Paris”.

We showed up to the home of Aurélie and got started. She was so welcoming, and I couldn’t recommend the class more. We learned the art of a true French Macaron, and also how to make some delicious Madeleines. Once done, we got to sit at her table and enjoy the fruits of our labor with some tea and good conversation.

If you know my mother, she watches her waistline like a hawk. So once back in our apartment, I of course was enjoying more of the delicate Macarons, while she shook herself up a martini! It was a perfect combination.

Now about why we are here…

I have a passion for cooking and baking. I am a home cook who was fortunate enough to grow up in a house where both of my parents were good cooks. We almost always had a homecooked fresh meal on the table.

When I was probably 7 years old, I used to live for weekend mornings where I could drag my spandex egg chair from bed bath and beyond, and my big fluffy comforter down the stairs, and park myself in front of the tv, all bundled up, and watch The Barefoot Contessa. It was my favorite comfort show. That woman is my idol, and made me want to try everything. She made it all look so simple.

I then would go into the kitchen like I knew what I was doing, and bake up some “sugar cookies” that would be like rubber that baked in the sun, and serve those monstrosities to my parents. No recipe needed! They would take a bite, smile, and throw them away behind my back.

As I got older, my experiments ended up becoming much more edible. Dare I say yummy. Coming from a Greek and Sicilian background on my moms side, food was always a huge part of my life.

I soon became a “collector” of recipes, as my parents who are antiques dealers would say. While my boyfriend and friends like to refer to me as a hoarder…

Growing up in an antique store, and setting up and working estate sales most of my life, I would come across some of the cutest vintage and antique cook books, and also hand written recipe cards. We would put the cards aside for the families who hired us for the sales, and most of the time they said to just throw them away.

I couldn’t understand how someone could throw away something that I considered so special, so I would take them home. This is where the collection began.

I now have thousands of hand written recipe cards from grandparents and great grandparents, that someone deemed good enough to write down, that have been beautifully aged and stained over time. I treasure them so much, but my goal was not just to hoard them for myself. I believe food is meant to be shared. These recipes are meant to be shared and live on for generations to come. So my goal is to test and share as many as I can, and let them live on here for anyone else who would love them as much as I do.

I’m sure some of these recipes will be huge winners along with some losers, but I will do my best to honor them as much as I am able.

I am beyond thrilled to have you on this journey with me!