Meet Carmen
Hello, and welcome to Spoons and Sparks!
My name is Carmen, and I am a passionate cook, an animal lover, and a dedicated mom to my amazing daughter.
I have created this blog with the hope of making your life a bit easier and way more enjoyable and rewarding in the kitchen. I want to help you, step-by-step, create delicious meals, whether for family dinners, friend events, or posh gatherings.
If you want to learn a few more quick recipes, new tips, and tricks, or just get a bit more organized with your meal prep, then this blog is for you!
Constantly juggling family life, work, kids, and everything else is not easy. So, I have created simple recipes that you can follow, step-by-step, to make your meal prep easy, relaxing, and worry-free. And I’ll be sharing all of these delicious recipes with you here on Spoons and Sparks. So, grab a cup of coffee, pull up a chair at my table, and join me for a great culinary adventure!
Facts about me
I am a single mom to my awesome 15-year-old daughter, Alexis. The vast majority of the time, I adore her, and for the rest …, well, she is a teenager, after all! We also have a very high-maintenance, finicky cat, Madame Sheeba, which we dearly love nevertheless.
In my spare time, I love to roam around the city with my daughter and just relax and enjoy a nice meal or a cup of great coffee.
I am a former legal translator turned food blogger and I utterly enjoy the feeling of doing what I love on my own terms.
After graduating from the university, I worked for a few years at Disney Cruise Line, in Florida. Yup, you’re right! Mickey Mouse was my boss! A great boss actually. I truly cherish those moments, the beautiful people I had the chance to meet, both colleagues and guests, and the great memories I have created there.
Disney Magic
After leaving Disney, I decided to deepen my love for culinary art, so I pursued a two-year culinary and hospitality degree in Montreux, Switzerland at the second-best school in the world of hospitality (after Lausanne), Glion Institut de Haute Études (Glion Institute of Higher Education).
Glion Institute of Higher Education, Lake Léman, Switzerland
I have visited over 40 countries all over the world and immersed myself in a multitude of cultures, but the places that are the closest to my heart are Paris, Monte Carlo, Lake Como, and Tuscany.
I am a bon viveur and a gourmand. Still, if I were to pick, my favorite dishes would be an oozy, sinfully cheesy lasagna with a crispy Parmesan topping, a delicious garlicky, buttery escargot, crispy deep-fried Camembert balls with marinara sauce, hot BBQ chicken wings with blue cheese dressing, creamy garlic shrimp fettuccine, and a sinfully decadent cheesecake with sour cream topping or a refreshing lemon meringue pie. I know, it’s a lot, and I could still go on, believe me, since like I said, I am a gourmand after all. But I do hope that I managed to entice your appetite, and your desire to stick around and join me in cooking delicious dishes your loved ones will be impressed with!
Relaxing Sunday in Montreux
Madame Sheeba. Yes, I’m the princess!