Before I was a cookbook author and food writer, I was a newspaper reporter. I wrote about all kinds of things: school board meetings, the latest fitness craze, or how billionaire philanthropists like to give away their money. I hardly ever wrote about food, even though it was the subject I thought about most. Years after I had graduated from Columbia School of Journalism and worked at several newspapers, it finally dawned on me that I could and should be writing about food. So that is what I am doing.I grew up in an Italian family. At the dinner table we spent more time debating what we should eat tomorrow night than politics or the news of the day. My mother is a native of Chieti, a picturesque hilltop city in Abruzzo, not far from the Adriatic coast. She had my sister and me shaping gnocchi and ravioli by the time we could see over the kitchen counter. We spent our summers in Italy with my mother's three sisters (all great cooks); each year my father planned trips around the peninsula guided by where the best local food and wine were to be found.I've continued the tradition of food-focused trips now that I have my own family, and I'm happy to say that my latest book, The Glorious Pasta of Italy, has some great examples of little-known regional specialties as a result.Thanks for stopping by! Visit domenicacooks.com to chat anytime!