Meet Debbie!

Hi there! My name is Debbie Malone and I always tell people that I'm from nowhere and everywhere! My father was in the United States Air Force when I was growing up, so I've lived all over the world. I was born on the Bermuda Islands and lived there the first 20 months of my life. Naturally I didn't remember a thing about it, but know that I've ALWAYS been a beach/ocean gal. To celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary, my husband and I decided to take a trip there. What an incredible trip that was. My passport has always stated my place of birth as Bermuda and what an awesome feeling it was when they checked it at Custom's and said to me "Welcome Home"!!!! My eyes teared up and I felt like I actually belonged somewhere.


When my father was serving in Viet Nam, we went back to West Virginia, where my parents are both from, and stayed with relatives for that year. From there, we moved to Plattsburgh, NY and then on to Madrid, Spain. Can you even imagine what kind of accent I had when speaking Spanish? I still laugh thinking about that. I could speak fluent Spanish when we left Spain, but of course like anything else, if you don't use it you lose it. Bits and pieces definitely come back to me and I can still understand better than I can speak. Last September, my husband and I went to Portugal and Spain. I was excited to show him all the wonderful things I remembered about Spain and fell in love with. And surprisingly, I could communicate with the locals pretty well.

I've pretty much always been interested in food and cooking. It's very easy when living abroad to pay attention to all the wonderful new things. Three years ago, I ventured off to Italy and attended a cooking school in Tuscany. I stayed in an old Villa and the grounds were absolutely breath taking. It was 8 days of non-stop cooking and eating!! I'd go again in a heartbeat.

I am a professional photographer specializing mainly in fine art, but I also do weddings and families. However, I was fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time and have been hired by a few players of the Oakland Raiders to shoot some games on the sidelines. Let me tell you---those boys are BIG! I also got to shoot the Tour de France in 2004. My husband and I are cyclists and that was the creme de la creme for me!! I am also a runner in my "spare" time. Since I have 9 grandchildren that all live within a mile of me, my "spare" time is few and far between.

I am very excited to be a part of the 37 Cooks! I'm looking forward to the challenges and to learning all that I possibly can. My recipe tonight for my first challenge is from Giada De Laurentis' book Everyday Italian and is for Panna Cotta with Fresh Berries.

Anytime I am hosting a dinner, my guests always request that I make this dessert. It's very easy and you can change up the presentation, depending on what type glass you put it in. This time, I actually used fresh Washington cherries on top and sprinkled a little powdered sugar on top.

Panna Cotta with Fresh Berries
by Debbie
adapted from a recipe in Everyday Italian by Giada De Laurentis

1 cup whole milk
1 Tablespoon unflavored powdered gelatin
3 cups whipping cream
1/3 cup honey
1 Tablespoon sugar
pinch of salt
2 cups assorted fresh berries (I used fresh Washington cherries for my challenge.)

Place the milk in a small bowl. Sprinkle the gelatin over. Let stand for 3-5 minutes to soften the gelatin. Pour milk mixture into a heavy saucepan and stir over medium heat just until the gelatin dissolves, but the milk does not boil (about 5 minutes). Add the cream, honey, sugar and salt. Stir until the sugar dissolves (5-7 minutes). Remove from the heat. Pour into 6 wine glasses so that they are 1/2 full. Cool slightly. Refrigerate until set, at least 6 hours. Spoon the berries on top and serve.