Mary followed her first culinary recipe when she was eight years old, the recipe was brought to her by her childhood friend next door. That was the same year she got her first Betty Crocker yellow and white striped Kids Cook Book, and her love of everything food was born. Throughout her childhood Mary's mom, aunts, relatives and friends shared their stories of family around a table of food they prepared. Before graduating high school she toyed with the idea of culinary school but there were very few female chefs at that time and the school she knew about was in Paris, and Mary did not speak French. So she majored in History and earned a Master’s degree, teaching for more than 10 years.
No matter where life seemed to take her, Mary was always drawn back to food and eventually owned a wholesale bakery taking care of mom and pop sandwich shops in local office buildings, which led to her finally going to culinary school, a little later in life than most of her fellow students, but she was loving the thrill of new recipes and methodology. Becoming a certified Pastry Chef was a life-long dream fulfilled and the chance to work in some of the finest kitchens and with world class chefs. As a cannabis consumer, adding cannabis to food was a natural process for Mary and she says she has cooked with cannabis, "...since before decarb-ing was a thing..." adding raw cannabis to pots of spaghetti sauce and meatloaf. Only later did she discover the true way to infuse food when working with an ill friend.
When using easily accessible CBD became legal, Mary began educational dinners at a local Tampa restaurant where you could enjoy an infused dinner, educate yourself and sample the different varieties of CBD available. And as cannabis (THC) became legal, her focus moved in that direction as well, finding ways to put cannabis into the foods we eat everyday rather than gummies and candy. Mary believes that you are what you eat. Cannabis has so many entourage plants and vegetables with similar terpenes that can increase potency and experience, why would you not combine them? So she does, in so many unique ways. From infused almond milk chocolate ice cream to mayonnaise and almond butter – you can satisfy all your cravings and eat healthy with a cannabis filled kitchen and inspired dishes.
