I attribute my love of baking to my mother and my grandmother. My mother is not an avid baker. She bakes cookies or A to Z bread/muffins (you can add anything from apples to zuchini) every couple of weeks, and her famous pie crusts and cheesecake only during the holidays. As a child I loved watching and being involved in her baking. Starting at about age 10, I would look through her orange covered, yellow paged, Betty Crocker cookbook and find desserts I wanted to make. I would ask her if I could try a recipe and she would always say yes. The kitchen was mine. That was a wonderful gift. The freedom to try recipes of my choosing, on my own. I made layer cakes, jelly rolls, and a multitude of things. I remember, particularly, the time I first made cream puffs. My grandmother was visiting and I was about 11 or 12 and they looked delicious in the Betty Crocker cookbook. I made the puffs and they turned out beautifully. But, when I began to make the lemon filling (I don't remember exactly what it was) it just didn't work. I don't remember what happened to it, but I remember it was atrocious. My grandmother said, "It's ok, just use some lemon pudding." So, I filled them with lemon pudding and no one was the wiser! My grandmother, my other baking influence, was a great yeast baker. She made the most delectible dinner rolls and cinnamon rolls. Our family went crazy for them. I have vivid memories of bowls and bowls filled with rising yeast dough. And my grandmother saying "Don't eat that or you stomack will explode!" In fact, when I make yeast bread, I always let my nose linger on the smell of flour, water and yeast; it brings back the most vivid memories. I bake yeast bread because of her, the joyous memories I have smelling that unique scent, and the power it has to make people happy. I only wish I would have found this site before she passed. She would have LOVED it. Tomorrow I am baking 'Blitz Tort' for my mother. I thank her for my confidence to try new things.

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