The Stylish Fork

bites of life with a food stylist

I grew up on a street called Memory Lane. My days were spent climbing trees, riding horses, mowing lawns, cooking, playing hide and seek with the whole neighborhood and enjoying Sunday night dinners that were often followed with home made fudge, divinity or pie. My siblings and I would camp out in our back yard, six sleeping bags lined up in a row. We would hunt for night crawlers to get ready for camping and fishing trips in Yellowstone or Bear Lake, staying up late telling stories and looking at the stars. Yep …lots of good memories.

Old Hanks Scanned Photos 12_2

I love this old photo of me cooking in the kitchen on Memory Lane. Check out the old stove with the pull out drawer and ovens with flip up doors above. This kitchen looks so small now! And the details on the walls and shelves with my grandmothers antique pitcher on the top shelf next to a wooden Mexican Maraca instrument my parents brought back from Mexico.  The handmade, yarn adorned paper plate hanging on the wall and the Union Pacific Railroad calendar… retro memories!

I am the mother of four and ‘nana’ to ten grandchildren. I am over the moon for each and every one of them. I am grateful for the rich deliciousness they bring to my life. My kitchen is the epicenter of all things culinary. It is in this room that we gather and continuing memories are made, one bite at a time. Having a home full of noisy love and laughter is the best medicine, best music, best of everything.

Experience and training:

Food Stylist and Prop Stylist, 31 years
Recipe Development, 10 years
Kandor Culinary Program Director-Instructor, Boise, Idaho, 12 years
Domestic Engineer for over 40 years

Culinary Arts and Services, Chicago
Tante Marie’s Cooking School, San Francisco

Grateful for creative and talented friends and mentors throughout the years, and for a mother that turned me loose in the kitchen.