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Food for thought: Clarks Summit resident shares healthy recipes and cooking tips

SCRANTON — Laura Martinetti uses her life experiences and passion to spread her love for food and cooking.

The South Abington Township native and Clarks Summit resident serves as both an account executive at UPS and a food blogger.

Known on her blog as “The Colorful Takeout Queen,” Martinetti provides her followers with unique recipes and demonstrates how to make popular takeout dishes at home in a simplified, healthy way.

After graduating from Abington Heights High School, Martinetti earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Marywood University and held several jobs during her time as a student. Upon graduation, she served as a sales representative for six months before landing a job at UPS, where she has worked for 16 years.

Martinetti enjoys working at UPS and watching small businesses grow. When she is not at work, however, her main passion is food blogging.

Several years ago, Martinetti became ill and was hospitalized for two weeks because of high blood pressure. She said that during her time in the hospital, there only were two channels available on television, so she was faced with a decision: watch cartoons or the Food Network. From there, her life changed drastically.

After watching many cooking shows during those weeks, Martinetti fell in love with cooking.

“I became fascinated with the techniques,” Martinetti said. “Even down to how to cut a perfect onion,” she added with a laugh.

When she came home from the hospital, she cooked a meal for her family and said she “went all out.” As someone who commonly ate takeout food and rarely cooked, her family was both shocked and pleased at the meal.

“There’s nothing more satisfying than cooking for someone you love,” Martinetti said.

After this experience, she began to cook often and started posting recipes on her personal Facebook account. Her posts were popular and well-received, and one of her friends suggested she start a blog. She decided this was a good idea and with the help of a friend in marketing, her blog was soon up and running, featuring recipes complete with photos of every dish. Because she adores cooking and strives to teach others to feel the same, Martinetti devotes a lot of time and hard work to each post she publishes.

Her blog has been successful and she has since been featured on various cooking shows, such as “PA Live” and “Good Day in PA.”

One thing Martinetti emphasized is her love of takeout food, especially Chinese. She said that as someone who frequently works 10 to 12 hours a day, she used to eat takeout often because of its convenience. However, she came to the realization that this wasn’t the healthiest choice, and now strives to teach her followers how to make popular takeout dishes at home in a healthier way.

She also stressed the importance of having color and vibrance in every meal, hence the title “The Colorful Takeout Queen.”

Her main goal is to get people to love cooking again, just as she did, and hopes to show that cooking can be a transformative, life-changing experience.

“When you make something from scratch, it’s truly a sense of accomplishment,” Martinetti said, noting that she often makes homemade pasta.

In addition to reaching people through her blog, Martinetti also helps people in her community through volunteer work. Last year, she volunteered at Abington Community Library’s event “Tasting by the Book,” where she made 150 egg rolls to help raise money for the library. Additionally, Hillside Farms is considering having her work at their grief camp for children next year.

“I was a child of a grief,” Martinetti said. “I lost my dad when I was 18.”

She hopes that by teaching these children how to cook, they will feel a sense of accomplishment and learn how to eat a healthy diet from a young age.

Martinetti feels that people tend to have close connections and long-lasting friendships in the NEPA community, which is one of the reasons she loves living and cooking here.

“Food brings people together,” Martinetti said. “My contribution is feeding the community.”

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