and I love pasta.

After living in Italy for 5 years, I fell in love – with pasta that is. I spent a significant amount of time in Bologna – Italy's tortellini and tagliatelle capital – and Genova–home to the famous pesto sauce along with trofie, trenette, and corzetti pasta. Life was good.

When I moved back to the U.S. in 2017, I suddenly had to figure out how I was going to continue eating all the wonderful pasta dishes I enjoyed while in Italy. It was a real dilemma. I sought out fancy Italian restaurants serving up this kind of fare, but that started to get expensive. So I started learning how to make pasta on my own. What started out as a weekend hobby suddenly turned into a full-fledged passion.

Trust me when I say it wasn't pretty at first. There were many failed pasta attempts and lessons along the way. Fortunately, pasta is very forgiving and tends to improve with good instruction and practice.

During the pandemic in 2020, I launched q.b. Cucina, an online shop that brings artisanal pasta tools and Italian kitchenware into the homes of people like me and you.

Our mission extends beyond beautiful tools and objects, though. My mission with q.b. Cucina is to inspire others to find joy in cooking in the same way that I have found so much joy in making pasta.

Since launching, I've taught numerous pasta cooking class both online and in-person. Over the years, I've found that making pasta is therapeutic, fun, and well worth the effort. Most importantly, I've found that it inspired joy in my life. I hope to bring that joy into your kitchen and heart, too.