Dear Abby

This entry is long overdue. That said, there's never the perfect time to remember someone who's no longer with us.

Abby Mandel was a respected and well-known "foodie" - chef, teacher, writer, entrepreneur - she really did seem to do it all. Based in my hometown of Chicago, Abby revolutionized home cooking as we know it today with her "Machine Cuisine" classes, magazine and newspaper articles and books. Imagine the Food Network and your own dinner parties without the unbelievable convenience afforded by food processors. The machines themselves might still be hobbling along on store shelves; without Abby, we wouldn't fully understand the depth and breadth of their application.

I never met Abby and yet feel like we're old friends. My mom was a regular in those home-based "machine" classes and I, a slightly (!) younger version of my current incarnation, was always excited to come home from school and see one of the stapled handouts splayed across the kitchen counter. Within minutes, I would know which recipes I needed to reproduce at home, having a solid command of the food processor by 10 years old.

Fast forward 33 years to this past summer. Cooking Light featured Abby in an article about the growth of farmers' markets, especially in urban locations. Chicago's Green City Market was heralded as the best of the best, primarily due to Abby - her vision, her foresight and her unending patience and tenacity. Here I am in Lancaster, cooking in a style very influenced by this woman who for the last 10 years was educating Chicagoans on the virtues and how-to's behind locavorism. This could not be a coincidence.

I was to be in Chicago to visit family for a week and was going to ask my mom to set up an opportunity for me to meet her. Before I could set down my suitcase, mom hands me a newspaper clipping announcing Abby's death from cancer. Even I, oh, sensitive one, was shocked at how quickly the tears streamed down my face. It's not like I knew her personally. I hadn't lived in Chicago as an adult, so I hadn't followed her 20 year weekly newspaper column. I just always felt a connection to this woman. And now, after finally taking the plunge and following the path I was meant to be on, I feel great sadness at her passing. Abby, from the young girl who couldn't wait to check out what was new, thank you. You have no idea how many lives you touched.