The Introduction

I thought it would be fitting to start my blog with an introductory post.

I’m Toni, a 27-year-old aspiring Food Writer and Food Photographer who has been thinking about starting a food blog for years and finally got the balls to do it. I have a well loved (read: almost dead) point-and-shoot Fuji camera that just doesn’t do anything justice, especially food. For now, I’ll be relying on that camera for the pictures of this blog. I have used the excuse of not having a good camera as a reason for not starting this blog for far too long and it’s about time I just started!

I was a Social Work major in college because I wanted to “save the world.” After my ship landed back on Planet Reality, I wasn’t sure what direction I was going to move in. I started getting into cooking, watching Food Network and collecting cookbooks (when I say collecting, I mean collecting…a part-time job at a bookstore is not good for this girl). I knew that I didn’t want to cook all day, every day because I couldn’t take the pressure and just couldn’t find the right fit. In a random internet search after a brutal fight with an ex, I found a school in Florence, Italy with a Food Communications (Food Writing, Food Photography and Food Styling) program that really interested me. I chickened out, pretended like I forgot I ever saw it, and continued working at my boring bank job for another year. After another horrendous fight with the same ex, I did another internet search, found the same school, and applied in the same day. Six months later, I was on a flight to Florence, Italy.

Living in Florence changed my life forever. I met a wonderful and amazing man there that I plan to share many, many happy times with in the future (after I can get his butt over here – dang visas), I confirmed my passion, I ate as much pasta as I wanted, and I learned a great deal about a wide variety of things both personal and professional. My ultimate goal is to be able to share my passion for food, especially international flavors, through my writing and photography. I’m going to start with this blog and see where that takes me.

The above picture was taken on the streets of Brussels, Belgium in December 2007. The picture below is Amaretti cookies in a store window in Florence, Italy. Apparently, if you light the wrappers on fire, they sparkle like fireworks. I never tried it, I’ll have to add it to my list.