Welcome!

AuntiePasto is a food blog, basically put together after the thirty-fifth or so person told me, “You ought to have a food blog.” Not that that’s a bad thing — it’s a place for me (Leanne Opaskar) to keep my recipes and foodie thoughts and so forth, which until now have been scattered hither and yon across the Internet.

The site doesn’t have any particular focus right now, though that may change in the future. There are some ongoing themes, particularly, “What do I do with THAT?” and “There’s Too Much STUFF in My Fridge.”

Other things I’ll probably write about include:

  • my garden (I’ve been slowly creating a kitchen garden, which has required a lot of learning)
  • cookbook reviews
  • participation in food blogging events, such as “They Go Really Well Together”
  • foodie trips, restaurant reviews, “check out this cool thing I got at this market”
  • occasional links to important food issues (there are other people who do this much better than I do, but signal-boosting is important.)
  • things I think are super-cool, which may not have anything to do with food at all

and whatever else strikes my fancy at the time. But mostly food.

About me: I’m a fourth-generation Italian-American (well, with a smidge of Portuguese), a native Californian, and aside from my years at college, I’ve spent most of my life in the blessedly sunny city of San Diego. I admit to being utterly spoiled by our weather and our access to fantastic fresh ingredients year-round.

I have a culinary degree from the San Diego Culinary Institute. I’m not currently working in the food industry, mostly because I’d get home after work and wouldn’t want to cook! Totally depressing. I quit that after a couple of years, but it took me a couple more years to recover my desire to really, really cook.

I took a break from blogging here for a few years when we moved. It took time to recover enough money to rip out the back lawn and put in a new garden. It’s nice to be back to doing this again!