Jan Perdue. Courtesy photo.

Name: Jan Perdue

Age: 52

Home: Roanoke

Occupation: Domestic diva

Why I love cooking: Sharing home-prepared foods made with love is the way I can give back to my friends and family all the love they give me.

Who taught me: My mother and grandmother were both great cooks. I have wonderful memories of spending my childhood in the kitchen with them in Pennsylvania. My grandmother was Hungarian, so she made a lot of roasts and stews. Mother learned to cook a lot from her, so she often made stuffed cabbage and pork and sauerkraut, as well as spaghetti.

Specialty: Seasonal, garden-to-table, simple and fresh cuisine. I moved to Roanoke about three and a half years ago and started my first vegetable garden. Growing up, we never ate vegetables except if they came out of a can or something. Homemade food is kind of coming back now.

For example, I make homemade hot cocoa. Hot cocoa is a tablespoon of cocoa and a tablespoon of sugar and milk – how easy can that be? Why did we ever do it the other way? It doesn’t make sense.

To continue reading about Jan, click here.

Check out Jan’s recipe for oyster bisque here.