My love of food began in a small village called Pabelo in Jalisco, Mexico. Picture a community general store and, in the doorway, a group of women sitting, while others stand in the kitchen nearby stirring pots of fresh beans and pressing masa for making fresh tortillas. This is where I grew up, and it has taken me almost all of my life to realize how extraordinary and unique it is to be from a place like this, to be forever bound to it and to have my entire life still resonate with memories of those early years. For the last 12 years I have been living in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, not far at all from the village in which I was raised. I have been teaching Mexican cooking classes to travelers from all over the world and I love it.