Wendy Ponte

Wendy Ponte has been a journalist since 1997 and has written for many publications, both in print and online, including Mothering Magazine, American Fitness, The Brooklyn Papers (where she was the columnist for PS I Love You), The Standard-Times and O Journal. She has written about topics including parenting, childbirth, Portuguese culture and genealogy, travel and fitness. She is the co-author of the book, Having a Baby, Naturally. Her essays have appeared in several anthologies, including O Gavea.

I've been passionate about my Portuguese heritage ever since I can remember. Growing up as part of a large Madeiran/Azorean family has caused me to appreciate the gifts of a culture that supports big family events surrounded by lots of good food. Many of my earliest memories are of hanging out in the kitchen of my cousin’s restaurant in New Bedford, Massachusetts watching huge pots of traditional Kale Soup bubbling away while all of the recently immigrated family members that she helped out by hiring them to work in the kitchen gossiped in Portuguese.