Hi, I’m Christine!
Hi, I'm Christine!
I'm a chef and teach Mediterranean-ish cooking to women in midlife. After 25 years in kitchens, with 15 of them running my own cooking school in Frederick, MD, I’m focused in on Culinary Medicine, which is the chef side of how food actually works for your heart, your blood sugar, and menopause.
TLDR? I had a heart attack at 53 and had to learn how to cook all over again, and now I teach women how to do it without giving up the good part.
How I cook, and how I teach
I teach women to cook for the body and the table we have right now. One or two people, not a family of five, which is a completely different problem and deserves a real answer.
Real Mediterranean ingredients, used the way they're supposed to be used. Olive oil, generously. Real fish twice a week (don't worry if you're a fish hater, I've got a plan for that). Vegetables roasted properly, which is hotter and longer than you think. Salt, where it belongs.
And no, none of this is restriction with better marketing. We lived through the SnackWell's era, we bought the boxes, and we're not going back. I'm not into supplements or seed oil panic, and definitely no diet of the month. Just real food that tastes fantastic, gets on the table quickly, and helps us into a good second half.
If that sounds like the kitchen you want to be in…
The Collective is where the real learning happens. It's a cooking membership for women in midlife, and it's the thing I'm proudest of.
Meal plans every other week, built for one or two people. A live class every month where we cook at the same time in our own kitchens. Challenges, mini courses, and an awesome group of women who've stopped dreading 5pm and started having fun again.
$49 a month. Cancel whenever you want.
The long way around
I didn't start out cooking. I had a career in advertising, first in New York City and then in my beloved adopted hometown of Frederick, MD.
I attended cooking school during my New York days, and loved being immersed in a world of French food and learning critical techniques. Eventually I made the switch to cooking professionally, as a personal chef and a cooking instructor, and I have never once looked back.
I founded Kitchen Studio Cooking School in Frederick and ran it for 15 years until Covid hit in 2020 and changed the world.
Working with people in the kitchen is one of my very favorite things to do in the entire world, and I love the connection that food and cooking bring. That part has never changed. It's the whole reason I still teach.
Then, just days after my 53rd birthday…
I had a heart attack. And not just any heart attack, but a widowmaker.
It was an incredibly scary time.
Truthfully, it took a couple of years to come to terms with things. Once I did, I had to learn how to rebuild my own kitchen around the Mediterranean diet, because that's the diet doctors keep telling women our age to eat and almost nobody teaches you how to actually cook it.
It has made a huge difference in my life, and here's the part I didn't expect: the food is better than what I was eating before.
Where I teach
I earned my CCMP (Certified Culinary Medicine Professional) from The American College of Culinary Medicine, and focused my study on menopause & the Mediterranean diet.
These days I teach live online classes for hundreds of people every month, including free classes for AARP, plus the monthly Mediterranean series at the Frederick County YMCA. Over the years I've also taught at Johns Hopkins/Osher and Frederick Community College.
Not ready for a membership? Come to a live class, book a private event, or bring me into your workplace wellness program. Or just get a little treat in your inbox each week.
