Bonnie Deahl

I came from an all airline family, living in Texas for my first 20 years. My world travels started when I moved to London for three years working as a flight attendant for an international carrier. After 13 years of world travel I settled in Northern Virginia and live with my husband. We each have two kids from previous marriages that are all about grown now. My degree is in German and also Ornamental Horticulture. I have worked in the tree care industry for 20 years as an arborist along with my husband who does the same.

I have a passion for cooking and love exploring new ingredients and visiting local farmer's markets. We both love birding, hiking, trees and just having fun together. Life is all about striking a balance at any life stage. I have no formal chef training, but read cookbooks regularly and cook from them often, making notes on pages as I go. Am I a chef? Absolutely! I am a chef in my own mind.

Cooking is my passion. I have transformed my kitchen pantry to have ingredients (especially herbs and whole spices) that are used in healthy, seasonal, whole food cooking. I adore most ethnic cuisines and am not afraid to try any of them. With a preference to shopping and supporting local agribusinesses and small ethnic markets I prefer to cook per the best of the season, every day, all the time. Put positive energy into the food we eat and everyone benefits. With a full time job and family activities, I can still make time to cook delicious entrees for my family including homemade bread. Mise en place?! When you have the ingredients available, you can cook anything you want.