About Christina: Ever since I was three years old rolling out sugar cookies with my mom, I have loved to be in the kitchen. Fast forward almost forty years, and I am still in the kitchen and passing on the tradition of rolling out sugar cookies with my six-year-old son. I can’t think of many other things that give me so much joy. The recipes on Collards & Cannoli are my standard, go-to weekly recipes. I grew up eating a mix of Sicilian food and Southern food. But I mostly grew up eating Sicilian food, since my Sicilian born father ensured that shortly after he married my Mississippi born mother, she was taught how to cook his favorites. Yes, I was that kid who took a stuffed artichoke to school for lunch. I was also that kid who went on a field trip to a catfish farm and asked for a hot dog. (I’m not sure how I never developed a taste for catfish, since my mother grew up on a catfish farm.) While my recipes are steeped in Southern and Sicilian traditions, I have also infused some of my own personal flare into them. I hope that by having a written recipe that my son can replicate the flavors of his childhood one day. I also hope that these recipes give you and your family as much joy as they do mine.
— Christina