Hi there! I'm Londa - single momma of three beautiful children! Two boys, Isaiah and Azariah and one sweet baby girl, Savannah. I am originally from Upstate NY - Rochester to be exact. Shout out to my 585 followers!! I now reside in Northern Virginia, and have been in this area for over 15 years!
I first learned how to cook in my grandmother's kitchen. She taught me how to season and fry chicken, pork chops - you name it! I would come home from school and she would always have something waiting for me to season and cook.
My father was and still is the "Chef" in our house growing up, so I also inherited a lot of my cooking skills from watching him. I learned how to cook without measuring utensils. In creating my own recipes, that was the hardest part for me do. Being cognizant of how much of an ingredient I used versus just visually winging it - who knew? lol However, I also feel that a huge part of cooking well, is using your intuition. I have made some of my best food that way!
I started this blog on a whim. You see, my sweet baby girl was born at twenty-three weeks and two days, weighing 1lb 3.9 ozs. She spent the first four very critical months (120 days) of her life at Inova Fairfax Children's Hospital, in Fairfax VA. She was under the care of the most amazing doctors and staff. Due to her prematurity, Savannah has CLD (Chronic Lung Disease) as well as being immunocompromised.
In March 2020 Covid-19 hit the United States very hard. Due to Savannah's underlying conditions and her extreme prematurity, she is at a very high risk of contracting the virus. If she were to contract the virus, it could very well take her life. With that knowledge coupled with the anxiety that I once felt when she was in the NICU; I vowed to do everything within my power to protect her. So, I made the decision for our family to no longer engage in any outside food/delivery. That was when "Londa's Laboratory" was born. My eldest son, Isaiah, was the one who gave me the idea to call my blog "Londa's 'Laboratory". One day, he came in the kitchen and saw me blending away making a smoothie. He said "Mom, every time I come here [kitchen] it's like you're in your lab. You're always making something new!"
I have no formal training in cooking. I don't believe you necessarily have to have that. Cooking is so much more about passion and the love you have for creating each and every dish! The food photography is also mine, taken with just my cell phone. I am not a trained photographer, in fact anyone who knows me - knows I just really love taking pictures. Besides that, I am a very visual person and I want my food to reflect visually- just how good it tastes!
In October 2020 I rolled out my bi-weekly Saturday curbside menu. If you are local (ish) to Loudoun County , come check me out! I now cater for small events of 10-15 people. In March 2021, I celebrated a year of no outside food. Since then, I have supported local restaurants in trying out their food and posting on my IG about my findings! I hope that you find my recipes yummy, as well as some of the recipes of others that I try and share.
Thank you for taking the time to check out my blog, don't forget to subscribe and remember to... Eat.Well.Often!
Xoxo
Londa