Meet Erika Pitera, editor, recipe developer, tester, and food stylist at MyGourmetConnection. Erika comes by her passion for food naturally and has nearly twenty years of home cooking experience.
Background
As a skilled and highly creative cook, Erika wears several hats at My Gourmet Connection. In addition to recipe testing and development, she puts her journalism background to work as an editor and also collaborates with her photographer husband, Tom, styling food photos for the blog to ensure the dishes here don’t just taste good but look the part, too.
More About Erika
- Outside the kitchen, Erika is a mixed media artist. One-inch scale miniatures are her forte, attracting collectors far and wide. What started as an obsession with sculpting drool-worthy 1:12 scale food evolved into crafting uniquely themed dioramas. If you’re curious to learn more, a peek into her artistic work awaits on The Petite Provisions Co., her personal site.
- Erika holds a journalism degree from the University of Central Florida, where she also minored in music performance. She’s a classically trained pianist and violinist and truly enjoyed her time with the symphony orchestras of her youth and college years.
- Tom, her partner since 2006, doesn’t just share life’s adventures with her; they also share a passion for pet photography. And speaking of pets, their house is a home thanks to two senior dogs and a senior cat.
Kitchen Confessions
A few tasty, secret tidbits about Erika and her philosophy about food and life.
What’s your favorite guilty pleasure food?
“My secret shame, that I’m totally not ashamed of: I actually love blue box white cheddar mac and cheese and cheap ramen. I know, not gourmet at all, but they’re delicious!”
What’s your food philosophy?
“When I first started dating my future husband, I was having dinner with my parents at a local French restaurant. I had plans to meet up with him later, and my mother advised me not to order anything with lots of garlic, i.e. the mussels I was eyeing on the menu.
In typical fashion, I said, ‘To hell with that, if he doesn’t like garlic, then he’s not for me.’ We’ve been married almost 20 years!
So I guess, in short, it’s don’t be afraid of garlic, and share your life with people who feel the same!”
What’s one ingredient everyone else loves that you can’t stand?
“Those tiny little brine bombs, capers. I love salty things, but I just can’t get on board with capers, and I always diligently pick them out of any dish they’re served in.”
What food do you refuse to eat, despite its popularity?
“Ever since I was a kid, it’s been hot dogs. It’s like eating a sausage that lost its will to live. I’m just not into mystery meat.”
