“Seriously???” “Why would you do that???” “What the —– are you doing?!?” 
These were among the many questions I received when I shared that after my almost 20-year career in the fundraising and nonprofit management sector, I would be taking a hiatus from full-time employment.
Despite great success as a senior executive raising hundreds of millions of dollars, managing teams of fundraisers and cultivating future leaders, I craved a new challenge and outlet for creativity.
My lifelong interest in food had developed into a true hobby that I had cultivated for years by seeking out the best food around the world (local markets being my favorite playgrounds) and testing recipes on my husband, family and friends. 
Hosting a dinner party provided me with the most exciting challenge and I found myself joyfully obsessed with my work plan – conceiving my menu, shopping for ingredients and timing my execution.
When my wonderful husband reminded me that I had told him I had dreamt of going to culinary school, I couldn’t deny it. In fact, for years I had been taking vacation days at work to attend recreational classes at the Institute for Culinary Education. He asked “why not do it now?” to which my response was “if not now, when?”
And so, I took the leap and enrolled in culinary school!
Throughout my intensive and sometimes grueling training, I frequently encountered friends who shared that they were so jealous that I had the opportunity to pursue my culinary degree – they only wished they could learn what I learned. And, of course, “do you have any good recipes to share with me?”
Well now that I have completed my degree, this website is my present to them and anyone else who might have dreamt of going to culinary school.
Through this site, I have attempted to consolidate my learning into a format that others may use as a tutorial and culinary reference. My focus is on ingredients and techniques – the what, why and how of preparing great food.
In response to my friends’ request for recipes, I share recipes via my blog posts. However, my guiding principle for putting together this site is that if I just give you a recipe, you’ll cook that one meal. Yet if I teach you about ingredients and techniques, you’ll make your own recipes and cook infinite meals for the rest of your life.
My hope is that once you’ve become familiar with the site, and better understand ingredients and techniques, my recipe for something like Beef Bourguignon will merely serve as inspiration. You will have the ability to vary your choice of meat, play with different spices and create any kind of stew you desire. The only thing holding you back will be your imagination!
I’m excited to share this acquired knowledge with you and spread “My Culinary Joy”. I thank Le Cordon Bleu for my education. Enjoy the site and please contact me with feedback and ideas for other aspects you’d like to explore.
ABOUT ME
Food aficionado and graduate of Le Cordon Bleu, my name is Joy Dawn Prevor. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, I moved to the mainland to pursue my undergraduate degree (University of Pennsylvania) and two graduate degrees (Columbia University and The Jewish Theological Seminary of America). After braving New York winters for almost 20 years, I recently moved to Miami with my husband where we are enjoying the year-round tropical weather. In addition to occasional fundraising consulting, my culinary repertoire includes Cooking Classes, Freelance Writing, Specialty Catering, Recipe Development, Culinary Demos and National Food & Wine Events.
CONTACT ME
TERMS OF USAGE
Please note that by using this site, you are agreeing to the following terms:
- All content on this website, unless explicitly stated otherwise, is the property of Joy Dawn Prevor. You may not republish the contents of this site without written permission by Joy Dawn Prevor.
- Please do not copy any content (i.e. text, recipes, photos, etc…) without linking back to the original post on my website and attributing it to Joy Dawn Prevor and “My Culinary Joy”.
- Please do not use my website content in any electronic or non-electronic publication, regardless of whether it’s for a non-profit or for-profit purpose, without first obtaining my written permission. Please contact me at jprevor@yahoo.com about your project.
- A valid email address is required to leave a comment. Be assured that I will never share your email address with any other party. Please keep your comments polite and on-topic. Any comments that violate these policies will be deleted, at my discretion.
- Please note that I do not receive any compensation for mentioning any particular products or linking to other websites. If I mention or link to anything, it’s simply because I like it.
My Culinary Joy 
very good so far ! Good luck, and we are looking forward to the rest! Love, ma and Sid
Wishing you glorious times and knowing that when you follow your own joy only the best can await you.
Very very excited for you! Glad I saw this!!!
Congrats! I always knew you had guts!!! I’ll just get a bigger gut if I eat what you cook!!!
Congrats Joy! Nice to see someone follow their heart. The only guts I have is the one around my middle from “dining” to much!!!
Nice website. That is for sharing your Joy of cooking with us. 😉
I want the recipe and techniques for those unbelievable brownies you made down in Florida last year. The best dessert I ever had!!!!
Best of luck Joy – very exciting!
I’m so proud of you! The site looks great, the food even better! Love, Jennifer
THIS IS AWESOME!!!!! So happy to seeing you share your joy, Joy! Will be on here all the time 🙂
Amazing! Joyous!! So proud! Can’t wait to see me more of this great adventure and journey!!
I feel like such an idiot ! I had no idea that you had gone to culinary school ! No wonder ! Anyway , I share your passion for food and I am really glad that you have put up this website . I agree with your vision and I look forward to learning more.
Congrats! The site is fantastic! I look forward to reading and of course learning more.
This looks great to me will you supervise the catering of my next party?
Hi Joy, this website is so nice. I knowe that you always had an interest in writing about food,
And now you have started . Good for you!
I wish you the very best and hope that this first
Step leads to your wished for goal
ROZ
Thank you all for the wonderful support! I look forward to your questions and hearing your ideas for making your own recipes. Please visit frequently and share widely.
I loved reading this news update, Joy. I too share your interests and will be happy to trade recipes. I am cooking/ experimenting with southwest flavors. Santa Fe, NM is one of my favorite places.
Here is one, you all, will enjoy. Southwest Pancakes…. Buy whole wheat or buckwheat pancakes mix. Mix in a portion of cinnamon and a shake of cayenne pepper. Sever that with real maple syrup and your eggs in the morning. YUM.
Patricia
Thank you Pat! I love this idea. Sounds like these pancakes would taste particularly delicious with juicy peaches that have been sauteed and finished with a squeeze of lemon. Their sweetness and touch of acidity would play beautifully with the warmth of the cinnamon and the spice of the cayenne. Keep ’em coming!!
Just heard about your new adventure so I immediately checked out the site. Amazing!!! Very impressed.. Good luck in ths next chapter of your life. I plan to follow you regularly and look forward to receiving new posts.
Lori
Hi Lori! Thanks so much. Please keep visiting and spread the word. Also, to ensure you don’t miss a post, sign up to follow the blog and like my facebook page: My Culinary Joy 🙂
Hi joy! Congratulations! I just wish we were close by to taste in person…. I too love to cook and am constantly trying new things. It’s great that you had the opportunity to go to culinary school! In the meantime, I have about fifty tomatoes from my garden… I’m thinking sundried, marinara (with the plums), carpaccio with the purple ones… Xo
Hi Jenni! So jealous – wish I could have a garden but I’m in a condo 🙂 Anyway, to preserve your bounty, try cutting the tomatoes in half, tossing them with olive oil, minced garlic, thyme and salt/pepper and put them in a very low oven – like 185 degrees – overnight. They will become incredibly sweet and then you can store them in the freezer for any tomato-based recipes throughout the winter.
I did not know you were doing this, Joy. How incredible! Good for you – I am also pursuing a long time passion and have started a small business though also still working in the Jewish community (check out my website – not as pretty as yours – at brooklynpostpartum.com). I have a second dream to attend culinary school, too. Someday I will follow in your footsteps!
You do EVERYTHING with JOY – and it shows
Looks and sounds great – and you get to follow your heart and your instincts
Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and
wanted to say that I’ve really enjoyed surfing around your blog posts.
After all I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope
you write again very soon!