Contact/About Me

Welcome to The Global Fork!

Here's how to contact me: 

Email: TheGlobalFork@gmail.com

WhatsApp/Phone: +260-7621659-89

Facebook: @TheGlobalFork

Instagram: @ChefAlaina

 

Thanks for visiting my site!  Let me tell you a little about myself.

First and foremost, I'm a wife and mom.  My husband, Kyle and I met while we were both cadets at West Point and we got married about 6 months after graduation, back in 2003.  Our daughter, Eleanor, was born in 2009 and our son, Calvin, was born in 2012.  What great kids!  We feel so lucky to have been blessed with them.  We are also the proud parents of two dogs: a chihuahua named Nieve and a pug named Isabella.  The dogs were our first "children" and life just wouldn't be the same without them!

I can't say that I've always enjoyed cooking, but I can say I have ALWAYS been an eater!  When I was little, I grew up with amazing food from my mother and her mother, and they both taught me about "dispensing love from the kitchen".  Since my sister was five years older than me (and MUCH more responsible and less lazy), she was my mother's helper in the kitchen and I just reaped the benefits. 

When I got married, though, I knew it was very important for me to continue eating in the style to which I had become accustomed, as well as to dispense love to my family in the same way.  So, I set off to learn how to cook and there were quite a few bumps along the way!  In the beginning, both my husband and I were in the U.S. Army and there wasn't a lot of time to dedicate to the craft.  It also didn't help that for the first five years of our marriage, we each spent 26 months in Iraq!  While we were there for our second tour, we both decided that we wanted to get out of the Army and move onto other pursuits.  Kyle wasn't exactly sure what he wanted to do and was debating several options, but I had been thinking for a long time about studying to become a chef, and I finally decided I wanted to take the leap!

We got out of the Army in 2008 and moved from Texas to Connecticut.  Kyle started working for a commercial construction company and I started working at a restaurant in downtown Hartford.  What fun!  I couldn't believe I got to chop lettuce and make salads and cook on "the line" at all the different stations for a (modest) living!  Even though it was hard work, I loved every second of it.  So I decided to apply to the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York.

I waited about six months after my daughter was born, and then I started at the CIA.  I knew immediately I was in the right place!  The CIA is an incredible environment in which to learn about food and cooking.  I had amazing, accomplished chef professors and really dedicated, passionate classmates.  I was there for two years and earned an Associates Degree in Occupational Studies, concentrating in Culinary Arts. I was also awarded the Katharine Angell Academic Achievement Award for having the highest grade point average in my graduating class. It was one of the best two years of my life!  Please contact me if you want to know more about the Culinary Institute of America!

About seven or eight months before graduation, we found out that I was pregnant with our second child (not planned!) and that Kyle had been accepted as a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. State Department, a job commonly referred to as "diplomat", and that he would start training in D.C. shortly.  We decided to take the plunge, so he moved to D.C. with our daughter and I stayed up north to finish school.  I graduated from the Culinary Institute in December of 2011, moved to D.C. to be with Kyle and Eleanor, and our family was completed that January  when Calvin was born (just 15 days after graduation!). 

Kyle finished training in June 2012 and we moved to our first Foreign Service post, Mexico City, Mexico.  What an adventure!!  Prior to the move I had blogged occasionally under the name "The Gourmet Observer", mostly about going out to eat in and around Hartford, West Hartford, and Danbury, CT as well as chronicling my experiences as a guest "chef" on the local morning show, Better Connecticut.  But once we made the move I decided to really be active on my blog, talking about cooking and eating in Mexico City, under the name "The Global Fork".  After Mexico, the family moved on to Frankfurt, Germany, where The Global Fork expanded even more, and I was able to serve some amazing clients, including the toughest clients---preschoolers at the local school, for whom I made hot, nutritious lunches three days a week!  Now we live in Lusaka, Zambia, and I'll be continuing to fuel my passion here, introducing you all to a whole new culture. Stay tuned, as I'll be carrying this blog along with me wherever we move for my husband's career, and I really hope you all will follow me on this life's adventure.

Thanks for visiting!  Please feel free to leave me any comments or questions you have here on the blog, or you can email me at TheGlobalFork@gmail.com.

You can also find me on Instagram @ChefAlaina and on Facebook @TheGlobalFork.