Content area
Full text
Victoria "Vicki" Ingrassia's email address, wanderingpickle@yahoo. com, reflects her dual careers. In addition to catering under her own name, she offers hot air balloon rides from Randall Airport outside Middletown.
Raised as one of five children, upon graduation from Middletown High School, she enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park to become a chef, receiving an associate degree. The year 2010 saw a Bachelor of Arts degree from Fordham added to her credentials, with a license to teach.
While using her chef skills at the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek Resort in Colorado, Ingrassia met up with hot air balloon enthusiasts who landed in the backyard of her rental cottage. She pleaded with them to teach her to operate a hot air balloon.
"I decided to buy my own balloon," she said. "It is an expensive...