Mari Feliciano-Ortiz

Hello Cookbook Munchies fans and recipe hunters. I'm a 22 year old Puerto Rican from outside of the great City of Brotherly Love. I was born in Bristol, P.A. and moved when I was about 5 years old. I graduated Bucks County Technical High School in 2009. I studied Cosmetology there but decided that I "thought" that it was my passion and I did not pursue it. I took a year off from school all together to figure out my real passion. Exactly a year later, I enrolled in a Dental Assistant Program. A few months in I fell ill to gallbladder disease and went through major surgery. After recovery, I returned back to school and I realized that wasn't for me either. I got a job at a gourmet mexican grill and there I was happier than I ever been in any school. I stayed there a few months and I decided to take a few criminal juctice courses at Strayer University. I didnt mind that major actually but I still felt like something was missing. I am still technically enrolled as a student at the moment. But now I figured out my passion that I grew up with all along. My hidden passion of COOKING!! I have been cooking since I was young. I remember as a little girl watching my mother and my step mother stir up dishes from my culture. Now I take charge of the kitchen. That is my happy place and I love creating new dishes and recreating old fashioned ones. I have a plan to open up my own restaurant one day. But for now, I want to maybe enroll in a Top Star culinary school just for extra knowledge of course.

Check Out My Recipe Blog at:

http://www.CookbookMunchies.blogspot.com