My parents owned a bakery business when I was in grade school; I spent hours icing doughnuts and other pastries. Later, when I was in high school, dad operated a pizza business out of a converted bread truck -- the kind used back when bakeries had home deliveries, complete with a propane-fired pizza oven with stones to retain the heat. This was back before there were pizza franchises everywhere; Pizza Hut didn't make it to this area until I was in college and at that time their crust tasted like soda crackers. We made our crust and sauce from scratch, using a recipe similar to the ones I adapted for the Lazy About Grilling cookbook. I spent my last three years of high school working as a cook/waitress at the only restaurant in our small town -- earning between 90 cents to $1.10 an hour, back when coffee cost ten cents a cup; however, during eight weeks in the summer of 1968, I ran the "pizza truck" at county fairs. I hired and trained my "staff," made the crusts and sauces, experimented with alternative toppings (back before Wolfgang Puck made that popular; oh that I'd have had his PR!), and earned a chunk of change for college.

Later, I was co-owner of a bakery. I only owned the bakery for a year; had the chance to sell it and did so.

By that time, I finally faced the reality that my balance problems resulting from a childhood head injury (a fractured skull) that require that I sit down to perform many tasks just didn't make things conducive to working in a busy kitchen*. (I already knew I preferred to develop recipes and write about them more than I liked working in a kitchen, so other than some occasional catering, I never really considered being a chef. Choices were a lot different in the late '60's and early '70's! In fact, after I sold the bakery, I worked in an office and had to quit when I got pregnant. Didn't matter that I was married even; company policy was that insurance would cover the pregnancy because it treated it like an "accident" and I was working there when the accident occurred.) But I digress....

Cut to the chase: I've always been fascinated with cooking and create most of my own recipes. I bake two or three kinds of bread a week. (My sister-in-law, who lives a couple of blocks away, says living close to me is like having Betty Crocker for a neighbor.) Creating this Web site is my chance to share some of the things I've learned (and am learning) along the way.

*The Enabled portion of this site is where I'll be sharing some of my "kitchen coping skills." You can get a hint about that philosophy by reading my professional bio from Lazy About Grilling: the feet up, hands down easiest ways to barbecue.

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Sample Recipes Index

(No artificial sweeteners used in the recipes -- anywhere, anytime!)
Sample Recipes Index

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