How Rediscovering Seasonal Cooking Brought Me Back to My Purpose

I need to be honest with you.
A few months ago, I found myself dreading the very thing I once loved most—cooking. Not because I’d fallen out of love with food, but because somewhere along the way, my business had become… repetitive. Exhausting. I was making the same dishes week after week, going through the motions, and feeling increasingly disconnected from the why behind it all.
If you’ve ever felt stuck in your work—even work you’re passionate about—you know that hollow feeling. You’re doing everything “right,” but something essential is missing.
I kept asking myself: Where did my spark go?
The Moment Everything Changed
It happened on a Saturday afternoon at Fruittuin van West, a beautiful urban farm here in Amsterdam. I wasn’t there for work—just wandering, really, looking for inspiration I wasn’t sure I’d find.
But then I saw them: vibrant fresh salads, sun-ripened tomatoes still warm to the touch, glossy courgettes, earthy mushrooms. We filled two bags (honestly, we could have gotten more!) and loaded them into the car.
And suddenly, I remembered.
I remembered why I fell in love with cooking in the first place. Not because of perfectly executed recipes or impressive presentations, but because of the stories ingredients tell. The connection between soil and table. The way fresh, seasonal produce at its peak doesn’t need much—it just needs to be honored.
That evening, I cooked with a joy I hadn’t felt in months. Simple preparations that let the ingredients shine.
That’s when I knew: I needed to rebuild my business around this feeling.

Why I’m Shifting to Seasonal, Local Ingredients
Here’s what I’ve realized: Italian cuisine has always been about seasonality and making the most out of every ingredient. This is the heart of cucina povera—peasant cooking that emphasizes simplicity, quality, and letting the natural taste of fresh, high-quality ingredients shine through with minimal manipulation.
It’s not about fancy techniques or expensive additions. It’s about respecting what’s in season, what’s at its peak, and allowing those flavors to speak for themselves.
I’ve always been fascinated by the profound impact that the right diet can have on our bodies and our wellbeing. Eating seasonally isn’t just about flavor—it’s about nutrition. When produce is harvested at its natural peak, it contains more vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Our bodies benefit from the diversity that each season offers.
And it’s not just about us—it’s about the environment too. Eating local and seasonal reduces food miles, supports biodiversity, and works with nature’s rhythms rather than against them.
Somehow, in trying to offer everything to everyone all year round, I’d lost sight of these fundamental truths.
So I’m going back to the roots—literally and figuratively.
I’m committing to cooking with seasonal, locally-sourced Dutch ingredients, prepared with the Italian traditions and values I hold dear.
Pumpkin gnocchi in autumn. Root vegetable risottos in winter. Fresh herb pastas in spring. Sun-ripened tomato sauces in summer.
It’s Italian soul meeting Dutch soil. And it feels like coming home.

What This Means for You
If you’ve attended my workshops or hired me for catering, you might be wondering: What’s changing?
Here’s what you can expect:
🍂 More Variety, More Creativity No more repetitive menus! Each season brings new ingredients, new inspiration, and new dishes to discover together.
🌱 Better Ingredients, Better Flavor When you cook with ingredients at their seasonal peak, sourced from local farms, the difference is undeniable. Fresher, more flavorful, more nutritious.
📚 An Educational Experience I don’t just want to feed you—I want to teach you. Where your ingredients come from. Why seasonality matters for both flavor and health. How the principles of cucina povera can transform simple, fresh produce into something extraordinary. Every meal and every workshop will be a chance to learn something new.
💚 A More Sustainable Choice Supporting local farmers, reducing food miles, celebrating what grows naturally here, eating diverse and seasonal for our health and the planet—it all matters. And it all tastes better knowing we’re making choices that honor the land and the people who tend it.

Where I’m Heading (And I Hope You’ll Come Along)
I’ll be honest—I have big dreams.
I’m building toward something I’ve been quietly envisioning for years: storytelling supper clubs where every ingredient has a tale to tell, and every meal is a lesson in seasonal, sustainable living. Eventually, I dream of a garden restaurant where guests can see, touch, and taste the journey from soil to plate.
But I’m not rushing. I’m taking this one season at a time, learning from farmers, experimenting with recipes, and inviting you to be part of the journey.
This October, you’ll start seeing:
- Seasonal ingredient spotlights on my Instagram (with nutritional benefits and Italian culinary traditions!)
- Seasonal recipes featuring local produce
- Behind-the-scenes stories from my farmers market and farm visits
- Updates on the farms I’m partnering with
Coming in 2026:
- Rebranded seasonal pasta workshops
- Farm-to-table catering packages
- And yes… those supper clubs I’ve been dreaming about

An Invitation
If this resonates with you—if you’ve also been searching for more meaning, more connection, more aliveness in what you do—I’d love for you to join me on this journey.
Follow along on Instagram @thebalancedplate_m, where I’ll be sharing the ups and downs, the discoveries and experiments, the beautiful produce and the stories behind it.
Sign up for my monthly newsletter to get seasonal recipes, cooking tips, and first access to new workshops and events.
And if you’re in Amsterdam and you love the idea of Italian traditions meeting Dutch seasons, let’s cook together. Let’s celebrate what’s fresh, what’s local, and what brings us joy.
Because that’s what food should do—it should bring us back to ourselves, back to each other, and back to the earth that nourishes us all.
Here’s to new chapters, seasonal rhythms, and rediscovering the spark. 🍂✨
Con amore,
Micaela