For the Love of Food

For the Love of Food... For the Love of You brings together simple techniques for classic recipes, with healthy twists. Toni Profera shares her personal journey as a self-professed, shameless "Foodie." You will love reading her stories as you recreate her recipes in the comfort of your own kitchen. All proceeds are donated to 'Urban Farming' founded by Taja Sevelle

THE MEALS... THE STORIES... THE INSPIRATION... Kitchens, kitchens, kitchens. They are the heart-center of any house/apt/dwelling I have ever called home.  Seems to be where every major life decision I ever made took place, where my clarity comes from. The chapters of my life are all strung together with snapshots in my head, pungent memories, auditory samples of 'moments' in all of the kitchens that have ended up as the road map to my 'story'. I have always had a fascination and deep feeling of attachment to all of the (vibrant ingredients, that make up the essence of our meals. I think I speak 'vegetable'. 'Playing house', for me, before I was even 5 years old always ended up with a big mess in the kitchen, curry powder, and paprika covering me like fairy dust overalls, and the heady, earthy yummy fragrance in my head and nostrils for the whole day.   I had the idea to do this book just before last Christmas, and had actually begun to cook and photograph and 'prepare', when lo and behold, I got a weird blood test report back from my routine checkup at the doctor. Seems I had become Insulin resistant! Ohhhh the horror. No more carbs at all until we sort this out. (said the Doctor) Seems all those wonderful entrees of pasta, potatoes, rice, etc were turning into pure sugar in my bloodstream. Determined not to become diabetic like my dad, I followed the advice of the good doctor and, well, changed my diet up A LOT. Feeling like a 'de-railed' foodie, I took to sulking.  Turning my menus upside down, trying to make interesting and tasty meals from what seemed like the smallest list of approved foods, I struggled to stay on course and stay positive in my approach. It was NOT easy. Funny thing happened, after a few weeks, I was eating 'dinner for breakfast' like I was reinventing the wheel.  Exhilarated by the 'newness' of it and really happy about the smaller pants size, I actually found myself back on track. It took a few months, but soon I was back thinking about which particular dishes would be 'right' for THE BOOK.  This is my 2011 journey. I hope you find something in here that makes you hungry!  And if it ends up being good for you.... yay!

Toni Profera, a self described “shameless foodie” was born in the Bronx, New York to parents of Russian and Middle European second generation descent. Her Dad was the “chef” in their house and taught her most of her basic cooking and prep skills, which were distilled down from his German, Austrian and Polish parents. Not formally trained, other than one or two cooking courses here and there, she has used her life experiences to shape her culinary world. She professes to this day to rely on her intuition and “gut,” if not her imagination on some of the techniques involved in her cooking and baking style. Toni likes to say, “Who made the rules??” a mantra that she credits to her BFF Sandy. Toni is married and lives happily in Los Angeles with the love of her life, Frank. Her son Zak, the light of her life, lives in NYC.