Born in Wills Point, Texas in 1923, Mozelle Thomas claimed that by the age of eight, she could dress a chicken from running it down to ringing its neck, scalding, singeing, picking it, cutting it up and frying it.  She began her catering career when widowed at the age of 44, to support her two young daughters.  She served Sunday buffet lunches in her farmhouse, catered weddings, and was director of food service at Lovers Lane United Methodist Church in Dallas, TX.  For her, food was unquestionably linked to fellowship, family, and friends.  She is remembered as much for her warm hospitality and gentle smile as her delicious, homemade food.

Mozelle’s grandson, Thomas Hardin, was nourished as a child by that hospitality in his family kitchens.  Encouraged at a young age to take the pan, he has always felt at home behind the stove.  Trained and practicing as an architect, food has always been a passion, whether baking cakes for celebratory events or entertaining friends at a four-course dinner in the galley kitchen of his tiny London flat.