Thursday 21 April 2011

a new beginning...

I love cooking, baking, and creating in my kitchen.
I have always had a love for making delicious meals and treats. I get this from my family.


Growing up we had a huge garden where my grandpa would grow veggies and then my grandparents and parents would spend entire weekends canning and preserving.  We had many apple trees on our property and I have an old memory of venturing out with huge baskets and coming back with each basket filled with beautiful red apples.  These apples were turned into delicious apple pies and applesauces.  Our backyard was a field full of wild strawberries. My grandmother would spend all day picking each strawberry in the field, and she would often enlist our help.  I don't remember seeing her eat any berries while she was picking, either she had amazing willpower or was really sneaky.  I definitely ate my share of bowlfuls before the end of the day. These fresh berries would become a variety of jams, dried fruit, and frozen, to be used later, once the season changed.


I grew up with freshly baked breads, cookies, pies, cakes, everything was made from scratch.  My mother and my grandma would often whip up a batch of maple fudge late at night, and even though I didn't really like fudge, I loved the magic they created. Weekend breakfasts were a huge deal.  We would often have company, my aunt Pattie, uncle Steve and my two cousins, Chris and Chelsea.  We would make eggs, bacon, toast, pancakes or french toast.  I always looked forward to these huge breakfasts, with too many people trying to make breakfast and a table that couldn't quite fit all of the food on it, or people around it.


We also had a small farm.  This would be a good time to share my love for farm animals.  Actually, it is more honest of me to admit that I am in love with farm animals, of all kinds.  We used to have sheep, chickens, pigs, pheasants, miniature goats and ducks.  After one of our sheep gave birth, she wasn't feeding her little lambs, so the two lambs stayed in our house.  These were some of the best weeks of my life.


Collectively, these few experiences I have shared contribute to my love for cooking and being in the kitchen.


When I decided to start my own blog, I wasn't quite sure what I would write about.  Well, here I am, writing. It looks as though you are in for a blog about my love for cooking and baking...along with some other stories and fun experiences.


I hope what follows in the weeks and months to come are stories that will inspire you to love being in the kitchen, to love creating and doing things that nourish your appetite.


Enjoy