Hello!

This blog encapsulates two of Chris’ greatest joys: kissing and cooking with his darling girlfriend, Alissa. While he has been doing some sort of cooking for his entire adult life, Chris had an awakening recently to get more creative in the kitchen. It was truly serendipitous that he started dating Miss Alissa shortly after this awakening. This is also when he discovered that he really enjoyed kissing her. Though there may be moments in the kitchen where a soup needs to simmer, that’s the moment Chris refuses to do so; it’s the perfect moment for a peck on the cheek!

It should be said that while Alissa has written professionally, Chris hasn’t quite had that opportunity. With a BS in BM (Business Management) from SUNY Farmingdale, in 2015 he shifted gears from being a General Manager at a quick service restaurant to entering the world of corporate training at a law firm in New York.

Some of Chris’ favorite foods / beverages include: Sesame Chicken, tortellini alfredo, white chocolate anything, white rum with a smooth diet cola, and a good Riesling.

However, Alissa is afraid that her biography will read far more serious than it should. She is writer and fashion blogger (Style Darling Daily) who derives inspiration from all things sparkly, sophisticated, and fun. In 2011, she traveled to Italy for a writers conference and attended courses at the Florence University of the Arts, as well as its affiliated Apicius International School of Hospitality. Here is where her passion for words-plus-flavors was born, while learning about the origin of local dishes and ingredients, as well as writing about all of food’s sensory joys.

In 2005, she graduated from Long Island University’s Southampton College with a BA in English: Creative Writing, and minored in Theatre Arts. After much life experience, some travel abroad (more needs to happen), work in the corporate world, academia, and retail, she finally earned an MFA in Creative Writing and Literature from SUNY Stony Brook in 2016. She’s currently adjunct faculty at SUNY Suffolk County Community College, where she regularly attempts to revive the foibles that are made against the written word. 

Some of her favorite foods / beverages include: anything Italian (like eggplant rollatine), cheese (basically all of them, though American and cottage are low on the list), quesadillas (if a restaurant serves them, she will order them), dark chocolate (with a hint of orange), Prosecco (because nothing else really exists), and every decadent dessert (tiramisu, if you’re nasty) under the Tuscan sun. Also, she thinks Julie & Julia is a pretty rad flick. Most of Alissa’s at-home cooking experience began with informal lessons in baking from her parents and solo boxed baking efforts since her twenties, a triumph of which she’s very proud.

After a time of unlabeled, yet wholly committed dating, Chris and Alissa solidified their relationship status on one chilly January night in 2017 at a book signing for none other than Clinton Kelly, a Long Island-native and host of  ABC’s The Chew. Chris and Alissa share the joys of food, affection, and film (that’s a biggie for us!), so be prepared to see much of that magical mélange in each post and recipe gamble.

Basically, we started to kiss. We started to cook. And the rest is blog history!

As always… stay kissing and stay cooking.