Meet Jonida Preka Morelli. Your taste buds will thank you.
By Sharon Holbrook
Photography by Robert Muller
Who:
Jonida Preka Morelli
Where:
Boulevard Neighborhood
Business:
Tricks in the Kitchen, offering low-effort, healthy, pantry-to-table recipes and other ideas to simplify your time in the kitchen.
Mission:
My mission is to simplify your culinary journey so you can spend less time working on a meal and more time enjoying it. Whether you struggle with dinner ideas, need help with healthy meal plans, seek personalized guidance, or are looking for other tricks to reduce your preparation time, I’m here for you.
What I Love About My Work:
A good meal can completely shape the course of my day. When I can use ingredients from my fridge and pantry to craft a well-balanced meal, it fills me with a profound sense of achievement and contentment. I love sharing that with others.
Personal Background:
I was born and raised in Albania and moved to Cleveland with my parents my senior year of high school. I was born in the midst of communism and spent my youth in years of chaos and civil war. Starting at age seven, I became a classically trained pianist through the conservatory of music in Albania. The nine hours of practicing a day instilled a strong work ethic in me. Despite the limited availability of food in my homeland, I developed a strong passion for cooking at a young age, figuring out how to create tasty meals with whatever was available.
A good meal can completely shape the course of my day.
When I came to the United States, financial resources were limited so I worked weekends in restaurants, always keeping an eye on the kitchen and what was being prepared. I attended Baldwin Wallace College, majoring in piano performance and international business. I began teaching piano in Shaker Heights as a college student in 1998 and have taught ever since. My husband Matt and I have lived in Shaker since 2003. We started out in the Fernway neighborhood and moved to the Boulevard neighborhood in 2010.We have three kids, Matteo (16), Nico (14), and Nini (12), who are the best food critics. We have a dog, Zeus, and two cats, Harry and Flash.
In summer 2022, my son Matteo and I began watching the MasterChef cooking competition show. In the midst of the first episode, he paused it and said, “Mom, you would be amazing on this show. I think you should apply.” A few weeks later, I was contacted by MasterChef and began a rigorous application process that lasted over six months. It was an honor getting picked out of thousands of contestants and making it through the competition to the top 10 for the Midwest region. I was able to do all this thanks to my husband, my kids, and our family, but also my friends and neighbors in Shaker who were my support system. They did everything from meals (there was a cooler placed by the front door for the rotating meal deliveries from them) to picking up kids.
On Working and Living in Shaker Heights:
Shaker Heights is home. I don’t take for granted the community and lifelong friends I have here. To be an immigrant and leave home is tough, but to find a new community that embraces you with incredible people and build a new home thousands of miles away is a gift. I am so happy we are raising our kids here. Their childhood is full of memories of playing outside with friends and neighbors and being out late until mom calls them home. Having our kids in many community sports organizations like the Shaker Youth Soccer Association has created bonding experiences not only for our kids but also for Matt and me. My favorite grocery store is Heinen’s, and not just for the food. It’s also an opportunity to see friends, the employees, and neighbors I haven’t seen in a while. (That’s why my kids and husband don’t like to go with me – it takes me double the time to get out of there.) I love Van Aken District and all its exciting food options. We spend a lot of time there – getting ice cream at Mitchell’s, eating everywhere from the Market Hall to the Rice Shop, shopping at Luster, SLFMKR, and more. My boys love Principle Barbershop, and I always make sure to stop in at Stump and Nature’s Oasis. Needless to say, I am proud to call Shaker Heights my home.
Contact:
Email Tricks in the Kitchen
Instagram: @tricksinthekitchen
Facebook: Tricks in the Kitchen
