Sahar Arafat-Ray is a Palestinian-American who grew up in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. She and her sisters grew up eating good food. “Mom was always collecting and experimenting with recipes, especially from Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking and recipes from McCall’s Magazine. Dad always cooked Arabic food on Sundays. We were very lucky we didn’t have the same seven meals every week. It taught the three of us to appreciate food and, believe it or not, helped us to understand other cultures; especially our Middle Eastern heritage. It was quite the education.” When her mother went back to work full time, the task of cooking the family meals fell to a 12-year-old Sahar.