Eating is my passion and I take it seriously. I love cooking, but I’m passionate about being cooked for, so I’m supremely grateful my wife is an amazing home cook. Every time I devour one of her gastronomic gems, or even when we’re out restaurant testing – one of our hobbies – I find myself remarking, “I wish I could get paid to eat this.”

Eating for a living sounds like the ultimate career for someone who loves food. Becoming a Food Critic – although I play one without getting paid – wasn’t in the stars for me. Owning and operating a B&B a few years back was the closest I came to earning a living making great food for others.

A Change of Lifestyle

Then, in the middle of 2020, something happened. Like millions of others whose homes were converted to offices, our Living Room was transformed into the coolest-ever Think Tank-cum-Marketing Agency. We took on re-inventing who we were being and how we were branding ourselves as founders of The Zest Zone, our essential oil biz.

To many who knew us, selling our B&B and embracing Aromatherapy was pushing the boundary. But creating a better place for others has always been our lane. When people stayed with us, the goal was to create a space that allowed them to fall apart or unwind. A respite to recharge.

Our own adaptation of Eat, Pray, Love – a great relief from the stress and craziness of life’s grind. Fast forward to the essential oil life where we help others who want to live, work and play with more vitality and vibrancy. Still our lane.

Assisting others in up-leveling their health with essential oils and supplements was a natural next step for us, mostly because we had experienced so many positive life changes with these natural solutions.

When you can help someone go from pain or fatigue or unfocused or some sort of dis-ease to energized, pain-free, focused, or just plain happy, to name a few – it’s similar to giving people a respite from all that ails them.

Wanting to Do Something New

If staying in your lane means sticking with what you know and what you’re good at, why push the boundary again and try something completely wild and new? Maybe it’s an entrepreneurial thing, but there’s something exciting about wanting to do something you’re not doing yet.

We pushed the boundary looking for a deeper, more meaningful way to give of ourselves – our knowledge, and more. We knew we had a proven track record in playing with food and drink. Our kitchen creations had won us awards as Cape Cod’s only Aromatic Inn.

When you’re tempted by taste and love flirting with flavor, the world is your oyster. But could the world also be in a bottle of lemon essential oil? Or bottles of basil, oregano, wild orange or pink pepper essential oil? There was something right in front of us on our kitchen counter. But we didn’t know it –until we did.

An Act of Giving Back

In June, we launched five Zest Culinary and Beverage Essential Oil kits. We took our passion from the kitchen to the streets, and there’s no time like the present to make a real difference. A lot of things stopped since 2020, but the need to do good hasn’t.

To celebrate PRIDE, and put culinary oils into kitchens around the planet, we’ve created a fun, fabulous, foodie fundraiser called TASTE THE RAINBOW  benefiting the LGBT Community Center of NYC (THE CENTER), the heart and home of NYC’s LGBTQ+ community.

During Pride Month (June 1 – June 30), for every Taste the Rainbow Culinary Essential Oil Kit purchased, we are donating 20% of sales directly to THE CENTER. There is still a fight to be fought when it comes to equity and inclusion and bottom line, it’s about finding your heart in all you do, whether it’s in the kitchen or feeding your soul.

The Taste the Rainbow Culinary Essential Oil Kits are a reminder to eat and drink boldly and beautifully. These oils will change your kitchen forever, and here are two recipes you can try.

Purist Margarita

Ingredients:

2 ounces of blanco tequila

2 fresh squeezed limes

1 squirt agave

2 drops dōTERRA wild orange essential oil

Garnish with Himalayan salt rim

Fill shaker with ice. Layer ingredients in shaker; shake well and serve in a rocks glass over ice or straight up.

Note: Wild Orange essential oil possesses stimulating and purifying qualities, making it ideal to support a healthy immune system function. It can be taken daily to cleanse the body or used on surfaces as a natural cleaner. Diffusing Wild Orange will energize and uplift the mind and body while purifying the air.

Gold Medalist Guacamole

(Makes 6-8 servings)

Ingredients:

4 perfectly ripe avocados

1 small red onion, finely chopped

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

1 regular sized jalapeño, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 lime, squeezed for juice

1/4 teaspoon cumin powder

Himalayan salt to taste

2 drops dōTERRA lime essential oil

Add minced garlic to a large medal bowl.

Mix it around the bowl so the oils from the garlic cover the inside. Once coated, discard the rest of the garlic, leaving only the oil residue behind. (IF you’re a garlic lover, leave the garlic in the recipe. I do!).

Scoop three of the ripe avocados into the bowl and carefully smash them with a fork. The consistency should be chunky, not creamy.

Dice the fourth avocado into small cubes and set aside.

Combine the rest of the ingredients and gently fold them into the mashed avocados – technique goes a long way in this step.

Gently fold the diced avocado into the mixture.

Note: Lime essential oil has an uplifting and energizing aroma and adds a bright, citrusy flavor to food. Its purifying qualities make it a wonderful support to the body’s internal cleansing process. When taken internally, it provides support to the immune system.

How are you lining up your heart with your work? When your line of work doesn’t match up with your passion, how does it affect you? Are you open to trying new things? Do you use essential oils for cooking? Which ones make great additions to your recipes? Please share with the community!