Welcome!

With the demands of work and being a mother, I was desperately looking for a way to re-connect with my creative side.  I tried re-connecting with all my early loves:  photography – not enough patience, horseback riding – not enough money, jewelry making – not practical, sewing – not enough time!!!  I quickly found that the things that fed my soul when I was footloose and…well…lets just say it…. BORED, no longer filled me up.  Quite to the contrary trying to make these things work and fit with my life was frustrating and disappointing.  Times have changed.

My Type A personality does not afford me the leisure of trying new things and expending energy whimsically creating things that never end up serving any purpose other than occupying my time and thoughts….which is a commodity I cannot squander being in high demand with the short people in my life.

I do find that I often get lost in my kitchen…and no I don’t disappear through a portal into a parallel universe where I am fed grapes and fanned by adonises  sporting loin clothes (how do I make that plural??? adoni???).  No, rather the opposite…I will start making my kids their favorite breakfast on the weekend (homemade waffles and homemade hashbrowns get bypassed during the hectic time constraints during the week).  Before I know it,  I’ve finished making a double batch of savory shrimp bisque soup, prepped dinner and have an exciting dessert on the go.  And my kids can participate without me wanting to rip my own head off and drop kick it off the back of my deck.

I’ve been taking my leftovers to work and sharing them with co-workers and passing along recipes when requested.  I get the biggest charge out of making something that my house stud gives me the nod of approval and my fuss budget children growl with delight like a kitten eating its first can of wet catfood.  They actually eat more than the pre-negotiated number of bites required to be excused from the table<—SIGH.

I created this blog to share the tried and tested recipes I love SO much along with tips and tricks I find and learn along the way.  I have some nifty kitchen items I live by and want to share with others as I myself would have loved to learn about them early in my mission for domestic domination.  As well, I am no leaf licking, tree huger (no offense to you deeply environmentally rooted individuals), but I do try to find a balance between re-using and taking advantage of things you can produce or source without having to contribute to landfills and pander to mass production in the name of convenience.  I like the clean eating concept.  I avoid convenience or commercially prepared ingredients where possible.  I just like the feeling of knowing what ingredients are in what we eat and controlling that.  Not deprivation, just cleaner choices.  This is more of a guideline I “try” to follow….I have been known to scarf back McD’s or expedite my cooking with “shudder” prepacked or prepared ingredients…duh, duh dunh <—Can you feel the doom!!

So here is the beginning of my attempt to share…take it, leave it….this is what feeds my soul