My mother’s name was Louise.

She raised nine children. I was the middle one — the “black sheep”.

Cooking for a large family wasn’t easy. Including my uncle, she prepared meals for twelve. Growing up in her kitchen, I learned everything she could teach me about food. I gained an appreciation for her ability to add wonderful flavor into everything she cooked.

From her I got my desire to experiment with food, and to create these fruit-inspired barbecue sauces and the tomato and spice that makes our Sangrita so flavorful.

As a disabled American veteran, with a desire to spread a little joy and happiness into the world, I founded Geeze Louise–naming it after my mother–so I could continue her legacy, if only in the hearts of my family and friends who knew her.