cooking is a passion of mine, and although I have never been a professional chef I have always prepared dishes that either have such great memories of years gone by or a dish that I just simply want to try or create.

My cooking methods are simple, at least I try to make them as simple as possible so the cooking process is more fun than most people would make of it and for me there is nothing better than cooking with great music in the background. 

 
I was born in Naples, Italy and I am 1 of 11 children. Growing up in a household with a single mom since my dad passed away in 1971 at the young age of 39, she herself was young and a widow at age 41. Mom had quickly become mother and father to us all at once.  

 

I was 9 years old at the time and since dad passed away our lives went into a truly bad spin for years to come and good food became part of our daily survival. Growing up very poor, my older brothers had to drop out of school to work and make sure we survived and had food on the table.  So, to say the least, food reminds me of a time when life was beautiful even though we were going through hard times. Although life would prove to be difficult, we had each other.  We built memories that one could never buy or replace, nor would I want it any other way. 

As a young boy in 1970's coming from a different country, learning a new life and language, I became a victim of bullying in school and I had to learn how to survive quickly. Street smarts became my new friend.  Being bullied for years as a child I learned never to be a person who could bully another and always welcomed everyone in my world no matter what their color, race, age or sex was.  Everyone was equal to my family and I grew up in a rainbow environment where everyone was the same. Not one person who walked into our lives was different. This is why I love being happy, developed a sense of humor, and always tried to make the best out of everything.

 

My mother was the best cook in the world as I’m sure most people feel the same about their moms. Not only was her cooking great but she had to cook for an army of us including others who would often “happen to drop by at meal time”.  LOL 

The friends we made as kids seemed to always want to hang out in our home. Back then we didn't understand why but then it seemed they had my mother’s dinner time down to a science and of course whenever there was a meal ready to be served - our friends happened to be over and became part of the family dinner. My mother, like many mothers I’m sure, would insist our friends join us and even before I could extend the invitation to join us for lunch or dinner they would already be sitting at the table, and space was limited with all those kids ready for their meal. LOL 

This is just a little history on my love for cooking and if I had to write my whole story I would need at least 1,000 pages. 

I also want to take this opportunity to thank a person in my life who without him Cooking With Johnny would have never happened and that person is my husband, Michael Harkins.  It was his vision that Cooking With Johnny came to life and believed in me more than I did myself. He has been a part of me for the past 18 years and is the main ingredient in my life’s recipe.  Without him, my cooking would be spiceless... (LOL) Is that such a word?  Well if it is not, it is now.  Spiceless! LOL

Please remember to be kind to one another. There is no room in anyone's life for people to be mean to one another and bullying is not acceptable in any shape or form. If you see something happening, step in and say something; you might just be saving someone's life. 

 

Thank you for visiting Cooking With Johnny...  "From my past food memories to your future ones."

 

The City of New York: Department of Health (Certified with Certificate in Food Protection) since 2000