Rachel Sprinkle-Strong

It all began in 1978 with my Nancy Drew obsession. I received the Nancy Drew cookbook for Christmas - my very first cookbook. The first recipe I tried was “Ghost Toast”. I took that first bite and I instantly started my lifelong foodie obsession. Who knew you could put coconut on toast?! I was hooked – and yes, I sometimes still make cinnamon toast and add coconut to it today...a recipe that stands the test of 30+ years!

My father was a big influence on the idea of eating local/knowing where your food came from - we were lucky enough to be stationed on the beautiful Presidio in San Francisco where he took French cooking classes and stunned my mother when he spent over $400 on a set of cookware by Le Creuset (which she still has today and I am trying to get my little foodie hands on!). He would take me on his adventures while he hunted down ingredients for his dishes - from Chinatown to North Beach to going to buy fresh sourdough and crabs at the Wharf. He taught me never to use margarine and always use butter. Now I realize he picked that up from Julia (no last name needed here, right?). I am lucky enough to have his copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking from 1979. His annual gourmet Christmas Eve dinner often resulted in 2 day projects and involved my mother out on Christmas Eve more than once looking for the perfect soup bowls or some forgotten ingredient off the shopping list. I remember one year we made chocolate souffles and I had my first big lesson in the science of cooking. I have kept the Christmas Eve dinner as a personal tradition since my Father passed away in 1983. I have hosted those dinners for big crowds and sometimes just for two...but I always think about him while preparing my menu.

By the time I was 15 all I wanted for Christmas was a wok, a food processor and subscriptions to Bon Appetite and Gourmet...fast forward a couple of decades and I got the opportunity with my corporate day job to move back to Northern California which put me in the epi-center of the foodie movement and I have had nothing but amazing experiences chasing down new culinary adventures! I am very excited to bring my perspective as the “home cook” to The Culinary Works and sharing my culinary dabbles here, there and everywhere! I look forward to contributing and hearing from you! To reach Rachel, email her at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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Rachel Sprinkle-Strong
Monday, 19 October 2009

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