Why Mexican cooking?

That’s probably the question I’m most often asked, usually phrased as something like, “What’s a blonde American girl doing cooking Mexican food?” The answer is simple: I fell in love.

I certainly wasn’t a stranger to Mexican food, having grown up in Colorado with its large Mexican American population and proximity to Mexico, and with parents who were fearless eaters and travelers. But her food was nothing like what I’d tasted at Casa Bonita, in Denver, and I knew I had to learn it! Strangely, that notion had never occurred to me before.