Hi all! My name is Vinny and I run Always From Scratch.
I am here to provide you with family recipes from an Italian-American background. My goal with these recipes is to make it easier for you to sit down at the table with your family!
Speaking of family, here's who I get to eat with!
If you want to get in touch with me email me at vinny@alwaysfromscratch.com.
How We Began Always From Scratch
I have been blogging since 2016. Never one specific type of blog. I blogged for sports websites, beer and beverage websites, market research websites, and local businesses. I even ran my own comedy blog. Some, I still write for!
But food has always been my calling. I began a food blog via Instagram in 2019. That is when I found my calling. I love sharing recipes, hearing about how other people make the same recipes, and learning about different traditions.
Marisa and I decided to start Always From Scratch together. I do a lot of the work you see but my wife is the one who helps with recipe testing, concept planning, and recipe review.
What Makes Always From Scratch Special?
There are a LOT of food blogs. So, why should you look at Always From Scratch? The reason we came up with the name Always From Scratch is that since we started planning on having kids, we wanted to cut out processed foods. Completely? Of course not. But we try to cut out as much as we can.
Our careers in the medical field, have put us in a unique position to be able to read research and understand what foods are "healthiest" for us. Marisa is an RN who unfortunately had gestational diabetes during her pregnancy. Since then, we have become acutely aware of the sugars we eat, how we consume them, and when we consume them.
I am a speech pathologist, CCC-SLP. I graduated with a Master of Science Degree in Communication Disorders and Sciences in 2016 from the State University of New York at Cortland and a Bachelor of Science in Communication Disorders and Science in 2013, also from the State University of New York at Cortland.
I've worked with patients with difficulty swallowing for the past 7 years. The one thing I've learned from these patients is that people want to eat together. Whether they have to drink a smoothie because they can't chew or they don't remember how to use a fork, people improve more in group settings.
Our goal with Always From Scratch is to make homecooked Italian meals easier and healthier, and to have everyone at the table eating them. Every meal you eat isn't always going to be healthy, but eating homecooked food from scratch is inherently healthier than processed foods or eating out! Join us at our table at Always From Scratch.
Where did we learn these recipes?
I don't know if your family is like ours but nothing is ever written down. I have a few recipes that my mom has given me over the years, but for the most part, neither of us was given a family "recipe book." But we did both grow up in Italian-American households in Italian-American neighborhoods.
We were taught the basics from an early age though. Or at least watched how to make certain stuff. My parents didn't teach me how to cook but they always made cooking fun. Whether it was making stromboli with my dad or peeling garlic for my mom. We were always part of the process. Either that or we were sitting at the kitchen counter watching Nickelodeon while they cooked.
Marisa and I met in a restaurant on Long Island called Zim Zari, which still has a location in Trinity, Florida. We both worked as servers there from 2012-2017.
Since gaining an interest in cooking, Marisa and I spent years with each other cooking other people's recipes. When we were younger and had much less money, everything seemed to be some kind of taco concoction. As we both progressed through our careers, we started experimenting with better ingredients and different styles of cooking.
Now we love to get our inspiration from old cookbooks, other families, restaurants, and other creators. Some of our favorite chefs are Lidia Bastianach, J Kenli. Lopez Alt, and Cooking with Babish.
Our Recipes
We have a variety of different recipes. Some are meant to be quick and easy to get on the table for dinner ASAP, like our garlicky cauliflower pasta or spaghetti with garlic and oil.
On Sundays, when we have a little more time to spend in the kitchen, we love to make a bolognese or a nice hot soup, like zuppa toscana.
Marisa and I met working in a mexi-cali restaurant so occasionally we mess around with taco recipes as well like our barbacoa tacos or volcano shrimp tacos!
One of our favorite foods to experiment with is seafood. Our broiled flounder and pistachio-crusted fish are some of our best recipes!
Everything we make is EASY. It's easy because we provide you with plenty of information on how to make these recipes. We're not just throwing you a recipe card and wishing you good luck. The blogs have notes about what to expect when you're cooking with Always From Scratch.
Where you Can Find us Now
Now, we are living in North Carolina. Marisa is a full-time nurse and I'm a full-time blogger. We live in a small town with our one son and our dog, Effie, featured below. We spend 90% of our time together in the kitchen and the other 10% enjoying a good book or tv show.
Always feel free to send me an email at vinny@alwaysfromscratch.com if you have questions. I'm also available on Instagram @vindelgiudice.
Here is Marisa and I on the day we got married. I don't know if we'll ever be as happy as the moment we realized that we captured this moment.
