Annemarie Spitznagle keeps a notebook. She has since she was a kid.
“My mom found lists and notes to myself everywhere,” Spitznagle said of her childhood.
More than a journal or diary, the notebooks have been like close friends, the kind who listen patiently and reserve judgment. The contents of Spitznagle’s notebooks have changed as she’s grown up and her interests have evolved. But through it all, two themes have remained constant: home and cooking.
Spitznagle, the daughter of an Air Force pilot, was born in Japan but raised in Louisiana. It was in Louisiana Spitznagle’s identity took hold in her family’s Cajun culture. Central to her family’s way of life was food. In a Cajun home, the kitchen is court and food is king.
“I’d come home from school, drop off my backpack and join my mom in the kitchen,” Spitznagle said.
Meals took hours to prepare and almost as long to enjoy with one another. Spitznagle was in charge of desserts.