Pacifica Home Chef Publishes New Cookbook

Christina Vella didn’t inherit any recipes from her family, but she definitely inherited a great sense of taste for food.

“I have had a love of food since childhood,” says Vella, who frequently ate out at restaurants as a child growing up in San Francisco with her five brothers.

"My parents regularly took us out to eat at different restaurants in the city," she says. "My father loved food but didn't always make the healthiest choices. My mother was always more conscious about staying away from adding too much sodium in foods."

Vella did not go to culinary school but "I have a big collection of recipes, and I really like cooking,” she says.

So much so that her friends and family encouraged her to share her recipes, “so I decided to publish them,” she says.

“Simply Homemade Favorite Recipes Collection 1” is a compilation of Vella’s tastiest tried-and-true recipes “that will be treasured for generations to come,” she says.

The collection contains 146 recipes, many of which are Vella’s own, and “some recipes are from books and magazines I tried but made changes or additions to according to my own taste preferences,” she says.

Vella started working on the cookbook almost two years ago and is now working on Collection 2.

“I have bought hundreds of cookbooks in the past only to find that there may only be a couple of recipes that I like in each book," she says. "Then you must go through so many books just to find the one recipe you're looking for. In my cookbook, I use all the recipes. This book stays in my kitchen."

Vella recommends trying the Unbelievable Spiced Chicken, Fantastic Lamb Chops, and the Awesome Potluck Chili.

The cookbook has easy to follow instructions for each recipe, tabbed dividers for easy to find recipe categories, and easy to find ingredients “for the love of food, family and friends,” she says.

The book is available at Florey’s Book Co., 2120 Palmetto Ave., Pacifica. Or send a check or money order for $10, plus $3 for shipping and handling for each book to:  Christina J. Vella, P.O. Box 1874, Pacifica, CA 94044.