Get your apron ready!

I don't know about you, but when I think of "baking" I'm not immediately transported back to my childhood as some fairy tales would have you believe. I don't get flashes of my mom and I in the kitchen baking decadent chocolate chip cookies, nor do I have pie recipes passed down from my great, great, great grandmother. In fact, as a child, I didn't even like cookies! Even nowadays they need to be top notch to get my stamp of approval! But somehow I still managed to develop a passion for baking I think would rival even Candace Nelson's!

So where did my passion come from? Easy. I needed a way to thank someone and figured cookies were the easiest and cheapest way to show my appreciation! Little did I know, from there it would spiral into a weekly obsession to create something fantastic using flour, sugar and butter (Ok, maybe a couple other ingredients too!) So for the past 2+ years, I have tried making everything from shortbread, to french macarons (those were an epic failure if anyone was wondering!), truffles, and cheesecake. Oh cheesecake! I'm pretty sure I was put on this planet to make cheesecakes! But we'll get to that later.

Over these past 2 years, I've shared my baking with friends, family, co-workers and anyone who was willing to eat what I had made! I have received such tremendous support and praise from them, and that's what inspired me to start this blog. I believe baked goods are meant to be shared - not just to save my waistline from exponentially increasing - because baking isn't always easy. It takes time, effort, careful measurements and dedication. It asks a lot from you, and only gives you a muffin top in return (and I'm not talking about the baked good here!). So why not brighten someone's day by sharing what your effort produced? I can guarantee they will appreciate it, and you will feel rewarded in return.

You may not get to taste my creations, but I hope you enjoy reading and get inspired to do something you are passionate about. Whether it be baking, cooking, painting, reading, playing bocce ball or collecting stamps! Because doing something you love can make all the difference in your life.