When Life Hands You Lemons, Throw Tomatoes:
Lessons in Life and Leadership
Full-Length Book Description [243 words]
Part cookbook and part memoir, When Life Hands You Lemons, Throw Tomatoes takes you on a culinary journey while highlighting the ties among business, everyday life, and, of course, cooking. Here you’ll find more than 100 recipes to create multi-course, delicious meals for you, and for your family and friends.
Each chapter includes foolproof recipes for at-home meals, from appetizers (try the Salty Guacamole) and main courses (a warming winter Chicken Cacciatore), to side dishes (always-a-hit Syracuse Salt Potatoes and Classic Tomato Salad), desserts (a super-simple Affogato alongside some complicated cookies), and even savory cocktails (the best Espresso Martini you’ll ever have). Hungry yet?
Donna also serves up stories from her life—some about her large, loving (and loud!) New York Italian family, and others that highlight key attributes of successful leadership. Tales are told with each meal, just as we tell stories around the family dinner table.
The specific ingredients featured—lemons, tomatoes, chicken, carrots, salt, duck, cheese, and fish—have all, in one way or another, inspired Donna’s life and leadership approach. For her, it turns out that food and business are forever intertwined.
This book is for anyone interested in delicious from-scratch, at-home cooking, especially for those who want to learn a bit more about business while you’re at it. Most importantly, Donna hopes you feel the love in her recipes and pass it along—maybe in the form of a cookie, cake, or soup—to someone you care about.
When Life Hands You Lemons, Throw Tomatoes:
Lessons in Life and Leadership
Short Book Description [189 words]
Part cookbook and part memoir, When Life Hands You Lemons, Throw Tomatoes takes you on a culinary journey while highlighting the ties among business, everyday life, and, of course, cooking. Here you’ll find more than 100 recipes to create multi-course, delicious meals for you, and for your family and friends.
Each chapter includes foolproof recipes for at-home meals, from appetizers (try the Salty Guacamole) and main courses (a warming winter Chicken Cacciatore), to side dishes (always-a-hit Syracuse Salt Potatoes and Classic Tomato Salad), desserts (a super-simple Affogato alongside some complicated cookies), and even savory cocktails (the best Espresso Martini you’ll ever have). Hungry yet?
Donna also serves up stories from her life—some about her large, loving (and loud!) New York Italian family, and others that highlight key attributes of successful leadership.
This book is for anyone interested in delicious from-scratch, at-home cooking, especially for those who want to learn a bit more about business while you’re at it. Most importantly, Donna hopes you feel the love in her recipes and pass it along—maybe in the form of a cookie, cake, or soup—to someone you care about.
When Life Hands You Lemons, Throw Tomatoes:
Lessons in Life and Leadership
Book Tagline [32 words]
Leadership meets cooking in this unique book that’s a pinch of memoir, a tablespoon of life management advice, a dash of accounting history, and over 100 delicious recipes to savor and share
Donna Rapaccioli
Full-Length Bio [275 words]
Donna Rapaccioli, PhD, began her career in academia in 1987 at Fordham University, while she was still a PhD student at NYU’s Stern School of Business. She spent 20 years on Fordham’s faculty before serving as the dean of the Gabelli School of Business, where she holds the rank of university professor and teaches accounting. Throughout her time as dean, she embraced applied learning, encouraging her students to take advantage of the business learning lab that is New York City, and instilled the importance of maintaining a global outlook. She also championed interdisciplinary thinking and collaboration, and established strong ties between academia and industry.
Donna has consulted for financial institutions in the New York area and has guest-lectured on accounting, finance, and leadership. She is also an independent director and trustee on the State Street Global Advisors mutual fund board.
A self- and family-taught amateur chef, Donna’s love of the culinary arts began at a very young age. Over the years, she has attended and taught cooking classes to feed that passion. As seen from her recipes, Donna’s international travels have influenced her relationship with food, and her portfolio of recipes represents cultures around the globe.
No matter what Donna is cooking, rest assured that it will be simmered and steeped in her grandmother’s belief in the importance of sourcing quality ingredients and investing time and love in every home-cooked dish.
Donna most enjoys cooking for her husband, three grown children, and their families. She has shared her recipes with faculty, staff, and students at the Gabelli School for well over a decade, and through this cookbook, she is delighted to share them with readers.
Donna Rapaccioli
Short Bio [54 words]
Donna Rapaccioli, PhD, is dean emerita of the Gabelli School of Business at Fordham University, where she reamins a university professor and teaches accounting. Her love of the culinary arts is simmered and steeped in her grandmother’s belief in the importance of sourcing quality ingredients and investing time and love in every home-cooked dish.
