It’s been over a week since I did my cooking demonstration at the St. Leon Food Festival in NJ. I’d never seen so many people and so much delicious food in one place at one time. It was incredible!

I had the pleasure of meeting Lisa Kouchakdjian who drove down from the Boston area to participate in this very popular event. Lisa not only did a cooking demonstration, but served as my emcee, and displayed and promoted her line of Armenian cooking DVD’s, mugs, magnets, etc. – tenderly named ‘Love on a Plate – Armenia’.

I’d read an article about Lisa in The Armenian Weekly a few months before the festival and thought, ‘What an enterprising young woman!’ I never dreamt I’d be meeting her and becoming fast-friends. Life is full of surprises.

To give you an idea of Lisa’s goal, she explains the following on her site:

“There is a misconception that traditional Armenian foods are too hard to make, or too time-consuming to make in this busy, modern-day world. Love On A Plate – Armenia will dispel these myths.” The recipes developed for Love On A Plate – Armenia:

• Celebrate our heritage and our small ethnic group through food
• Teach Armenians who might not have watched their family members cook certain foods that they enjoyed
• Teach Armenians who want to try traditional foods that they have never tried making or eating
• Teach anyone who wants to learn how to cook healthy traditional Armenian foods
• Make traditional Armenian foods in a simple, easy and efficient manner
• Put a modern twist on traditional Armenian recipes

With Christmas coming soon, you should take a look at Lisa’s merchandise, and order one – or – more of her gift baskets for family, friends, or yourself. It’s a gift that will surely be treasured!