Anyone who knows me, especially my mother, will tell you I don't enjoy cooking. At all. Never as a little girl did I volunteer to help prepare our holiday meals or ask my mother or grandmothers to pass on their recipe secrets. No, when it came to cooking I would try and distance myself from the task as much as possible which meant I was often given the worst jobs; peeling, shucking, slicing and dicing. Ick. My brother always jumped in to help and has had a real talent in the kitchen since he was very small. I also lucked out on the marital home front, one of Adam's hobbies is cooking. But there's a whole other side to the kitchen for me and that is baking.
Anytime my Nana was preparing cookies I was her girl, I can create any family cookie from memory. And pies! Cakes! I spent my childhood studying my mother's cherry pie, and at holidays pumpkin pie has always been mine to make. Every occasion called for a double chocolate cheesecake, and now on my own I bring the pumpkin cheesecake. When Adam and I got married the bread machine was one of my favorite gifts and I was almost giddy when we bought a cookie gun!
Now, with Maeve here, I have practically no time for myself and have been going a little nutty. So, the last two weeks, at about 1am,when she's asleep, I've baked. Cake, muffins, cookies, bread. Anything carb-loaded and delicious when made from scratch. :) There is something so relaxing about baking, something cathartic. It helps me feel like myself as I'm working to discover the new me now that I'm a mom. And it makes me happy to know people are enjoying my treats. (Oh yes, I've been sending every baked goodie to work with Adam) So, I thought since I'm diving back into this old hobby maybe I would record my successful recipes as I go. The ones I think you really MUST have! I am definitely no
Christy Jordan, but I know what I love. Hopefully you'll find something you want to try! :)
