“Culinary creations of a little girl with big ideas”
Christina Falco Baldwin is the little girl behind the big knife. If you don’t know her, you should. We met a couple of years ago and quickly recognized that we both shared a passion for creative cooking and locally sourced food.
We first met at Pilates Bodies in Covington where Christina teaches high-powered exercise classes. You know when you obsess about food as we do….eat it, dream about it, drink it, you have to at least TRY to exercise regularly. Walking on the weekends with the girls, anything aerobic, and yoga, hot, cold or however I can get it, usually balances out the body and prepares me for the next meal!!!
I personally know from working out with Christina that if she brings the same energy and commitment to the kitchen as she does to her workouts we are in for unique, tasty and innovative cuisine.
Christina conceived and started the Little Girl, Big Knife food blog on Blogspot in the summer of 2007 during the many months that she anxiously awaited results from the Louisiana bar exam. Oh yes, I forgot to mention that she is also a practicing attorney!
It was during this time that she rediscovered and drew her cooking inspiration from her Italian family roots, realized her passion for food and developed techniques to express her own unique style in the kitchen. Since then Little Girl, Big Knife has grown and morphed into a small business. Christina is best known for combining her passion for healthy food, creativity, and bacon, yes bacon, which has resulted in the creation of Baco-Nola. Baco-Nola is a healthy alternative to your mainstream granola made with bacon, pecans, almonds, walnuts, agave nectar, honey, and a dash of kosher salt. Believe it or not, it is even paleo-friendly. You can check Christina’s facebook page and blog as well as her etsy site, to find out more about this addictive granola and where you can purchase it locally. My morning yogurt parfait has taken on new meaning with the addition of Baco-Nola.
Christina’s basic food philosophy is that healthy eating can taste good. She accomplishes this by eating locally grown seasonal foods.
So it seemed only natural to meet at the Covington Farmer’s market on Saturday. I wanted to see what local produce would inspire Christina this week. Fortunately, the greens at the market are still abundant and in season. Swiss chard, green onions, kale, broccoli rabe (associated with southern Italian cuisine) and fennel (see recipe below for Christina’s Baked Oysters with Chorizo and Fennel) were snatched up by Christina and delicately placed in her market bag. She decided against the beets this week because she made those last week combined with gingered brown rice salad to accompany amberjack. Sorry we missed out on that!
We almost forgot Nick Usner’s delicate honey-flavored sweet potatoes. Christina makes a mean sweet potato and shrimp curry with these locally grown distinguished root vegetables. I am so hoping that she will also share this recipe with us. Now I get to sit back and anxiously await the culinary surprises from the kitchen of the little girl with the big knife. I trust that Christina will work her magic and craft some innovative local dishes with our weekend farmer’s market finds. I love my foodie friends!
You can see some of Christina’s recipes on Sophisticated Woman by following the links below.
