I recently had the honour of the Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Association of Northern Alberta using my ebook Mirella Cooks as a fundraising tool. As a result Mirella Cooks gained a lot of attention in part as a result of print Journalist Cam Tait’s article about the fundraiser in his columns in the Edmonton Sun and the Edmonton Examiner.
My family is from Altilia, Cosenza in the southern region of Calabria in Italy; a small village called Maione. When my family came to Canada they kept many of the traditions from Italy and food has always been an important tradition.
Unfortunately I never did inherit any family recipes so when I became an adult I went in search of authentic Italian restaurants unfortunately none of the restaurant that I have been to have dishes like the ones that my family cooked. I came to the realisation that if I wanted authentic Italian food I would have to cook it myself; this created a problem for me because I didn’t have the recipes. It took me several years to figure out the recipes for the dishes. Initially my idea was to document them for future reference. Then it dawned on me that many people would be in the same position as I was in; so Mirella Cooks was born.
It is difficult for me to choose favourite recipes from my book; but if I had to I would have to say the No Bake Social Tea Biscuit Layered Cake, two ingredient; ten minutes and you have a cake; Lupini bean snack which is not only delicious but a healthy snack as well; and the Polpette Di Pane/Bread Dumplings for the carbs.
I discovered I liked to cook at a very young age; there is nothing quite like a home cooked meal.
I have Spina Bifida and use forearm crutches. I try to give back to the community whenever I can. I have a Facebook page dedicated to providing disability related information https://www.facebook.com/mirellalsacco and a blog mirellamuses.wordpress.com. I believe that if you engage people you enlighten them to become empowered. Engage, Enlighten, Empower.
Mirella Cooks is in ebook format and is available on my website at www.mirellalsacco.com/mirellacooks for $6.
I would be open to other non-profit agencies using my cookbook as a fundraising tool in the future. I would also say that several of the recipes in the book are very easy to make with few ingredients.
mirella muses 