I have been a Personal Chef and Recipe Developer since 2002.  In 2008, I developed recipes and wrote a cookbook called "Maximized Meals that Heal" and it was written specifically for a group of Chiropractors based in Naples, Florida, with practices across America.  The book was based on a special "healing diet" and all recipes were to be Grain Free, Gluten Free, Refined Sugar Free, Low Glycemic and they all had to taste Good! That was no small feat in 2008!  Gluten Free was just coming in to it's own. Two years later and lots of dollars spent...the book was finally published in 2010. 

I kept busy cooking for my private clients and their families. Each client had a special reason for having a Personal Chef. For some families, life became too busy with demanding professional careers, kids and school, after school activities, and running from one thing to another. Cooking dinner got lost in the mix. Fast food was the norm and they wanted to change that. For others, they were put on difficult diets for health reasons and didn't know where to start. Almost all of them wanted the ingredients to be organic.  Once again, not an easy feat in 2002! 

To save some time for myself, I started making big batch foods and canning, freezing and even dehydrating for my clients and it turned into a second business for me. I would make gallons of Soups, Stocks, Bone Broth, Sauces, Pickled items, Fermented items, Condiments as well as big batches of granola healthy desserts and snack items.  It was challenging and fun! 

 I continued as a Personal Chef until I retired in 2022 and my husband and I moved to Arab, Alabama!  

I began making foods infused with Ghost Peppers in 2008 and have developed quite a few items. Selling my products at Farmers Markets in Naples, Florida was a fun part time thing. 

We moved to Arab, Alabama in 2022 and I had planned to retire, but...NOT!

It became apparent to me that I couldn't stop doing something that I passionately enjoy doing, right?

However, now I am developing recipes using ingredients that I am growing or buying from other local farmers!  I'm canning and selling online and at Farmers Markets.

It's even more fun now!  Now I have the time to grow much of what I use in my recipes. 

Ghost Peppers are still my "thing" and I put them in just about every recipe I work with.

I have Ghost Pepper items from Mild to Hot...but never so hot you can't taste and enjoy what your eating!

This year, 2023,  I will continue working with my line of " Ghostly Good" Artisan Foods, infused with my organically grown Ghost Peppers. We are also growing tomatoes, a big variety of peppers, cucumbers, sweet corn and a host of other vegetables. Our mini farm is blessed with two enormous pecan trees, fresh figs, blackberries and blueberries!

What's new for this year?

I will continue as a regular vendor, Saturday mornings,  at the Guntersville Farmers Market for 2024 opening in May, from 8:00am to 1:00pm. I will also be doing the Greene Street Farmers Market located downtown, in Huntsville, every other Thursday afternoon,  from 2:00 to 6:00pm!​

You can always order my products on line and I'm happy to ship them to you! 

Check out my product page!!

I support my fellow farmers as well and buy what I do not grow from them. It's a lovely and tight community and I'm proud to be a part of it!

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Dining by Design is now

"Ghostly Good" Artisan Foods

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