Author Description

Co-author Sal Baldanza was one of seven brothers and sisters born in a small village in Calabria, Italy. After serving in the Italian Navy, he emigrated to America in 1983 with a determination to succeed. Sal couldn't understand English, knew no one here except his sister and her husband, and had very little money. But he saved almost everything he earned as a dishwasher and later as a cook in a small restaurant, and opened an Italian food store. His three brothers came to America and joined the family efforts, eventually opening a store in Huntington, Long Island called Mr. Sausage. This store and catering establishment has proved to be the charm that made their 7-day weeks and 14-hour workdays worthwhile. It has developed a devoted following. In his first cookbook, Sal shares his delightful culinary creations; he describes his recipes as rustic and simple, with a southern Italian influence.Co-author Kerriann Flanagan Brosky majored in photography at Long Island University, C.W. Post, studying with the renowned Arthur Leipzig. She is the author of three illustrated books, two on Long Island history, and her most recent, Ghosts of Long Island: Stories of the Paranormal, containing 30 stories of haunted places and eyewitness accounts of ghostly phenomena. Kerriann's love of cooking began early, when her mother, who is half Italian, taught her. This is her first cookbook collaboration, for which she took the color photographs and also shares 45 of her own recipes.