Honey Mustard & Dabs.

Halle Rampulla – Chef/Cook/Baker - @hramps – Hallelujah’s Baked with Angst Bakery

“Where’s my fucking…?! oh.” Halle and I started her interview in her room, sitting on the floor, next to a small container of honey mustard, and a small bag of dabs. Chaos: but it’s okay because-- there is always marijuana to get high, and always something to dip the chicken nugget in when you’re stoned. One of my first questions to her was what the inside of her head looks like to her, to give me a basic picture. She said—it’s basically a jumble. It’s a mess. One of my next questions was what does depression feel like, can you describe it? After many different metaphors associated with frowns and feelings, we concluded that there is no single word, phrase, nor sentence, that can describe an aching soul. After going through 10 different psychiatrists, and a hospital trip that led to filling her with lithium, she found the determination and diagnosis that changed her life. ADHD.

Although her diagnosis does not define her, it formed an understanding of who and why, in the forbidden realm of ~mental health~. The ‘who’ wasn’t so hard for her to figure out, though. Her parents basically raised her with an apron on. With Italy running through her blood, and Emeril Lagasse on the television, it wasn’t surprising that she developed the skills to perfectly season a cast iron as a young child. Her father raised her to adore cooking/fishing and grew up watching her mom decorate cakes. But it wasn’t until ‘the kitchen life’ fell into her lap, that she realized her passion involved food, and the science of food.

Passion to Halle is different from what the typical dictionary definition would describe it as. Her first term associated with her art—was hatred. This confused the hell out of me, until she explained in further detail… Halle never meets her own expectations, and if she does, those expectations don’t exist to her anymore, they change to a higher level. Perfectionism, and pride in small detail, comes with plenty of words you won’t find in that typical dictionary, either. (For Halle at least). I’m willing to bet potty mouths aren’t unusual in the kitchen industry though.

One of my final questions to Halle was, “What is your overall goal in your cooking/baking career?” She had nothing to say, besides exist and survive with her doggie. It’s all she has, and she never thought she would make it this far in life. Yet I have the honor of sitting here, writing about this talented woman, artist, and friend, for someone to take note, relate to it, and maybe enjoy it too.