Baking and Cooking....Who? Me?

Chef Marci from La-La Land Crafts

Hi Everybody!


I don't know about all of you but I seem to go through phases of things that I am interested in. I have tried quilting, scrapbooking, knitting, crocheting, sewing, cross-stitching, and more! In all that time of going from one interest to another I never dreamed I would end up with an interest that landed me in the kitchen! While I was growing up both of my parents cooked and both had very different approaches as well. My mom was all about getting the food out of the pan and onto the table. She grew up cooking for a family of five and sometimes more if family dropped in and even though I was an only child she still cooked as though a brood of people would be eating with us. With my mom the food tasted great but wasn't much to look at (you really demonstrated your level of trust of her by taking for granted that what she called fried green tomatoes was truly that).  My dad on the other hand made great food that was also pretty, he cared about how things were presented, even his mashed potatoes looked so pretty you almost didn't want to disturb them with a spoon (almost they were free of lumps and full golden butter melting into the creamy mashed potatoes). They both typically cooked out of a box or from a can, mostly likely because they both grew up not many years out from the Great Depression although at least my mom's father did keep a garden.

So all of the above jabber leads me to say that I have a collection albeit small of dishes that are quick, easy and tasty. Unfortunately for me since I am diabetic many of those dishes are now rendered mostly useless because they are heavy on the carbohydrate side. So I am learning what it means to eat low carb, not with bars or canned shakes but with real food. The thing that is surprising me is that I am enjoying it! What is happening! Now my Amazon wish list is full of things such as a standing mixer, a set of nice sharp knives (turns out that if you don't use your knives for anything other than cutting open packages you don't know they aren't sharp enough for cutting up vegetables), a magnetic knife bar for the knives that won't fit in the block that's on my wish list, and other kitchen tools that I find myself daydreaming of or wishing I had while preparing a meal.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would find myself acquiring board after board on Pinterest about baking, cooking, and other dishes that will fit into my dietary needs. My YouTube account is full of playlists on baking with almond, coconut and cashew flours and I have just spent a full day preparing food. There was a time that I would have scoffed at that sort of idea and now I am savoring it. It's funny, I find myself at times taking a mental step back as I see this new interest of mine growing and I shake my head that it's happening and it makes me think of my dad. He used to tell me that he found the kitchen relaxing as he washed dishes by hand, creamed mashed potatoes and prepared other dishes the hard way (my terminology not his).

Now as I learn more and do more and create more I find myself having not just a joy of eating but truly a joy of cooking. What interests have any of you all found yourselves in that you never would have been able to predict and are you still doing them? Thank you all so much for stopping by and thank you so much if you were able to endure this far in. I truly appreciate your time and attention!

Wishing you sunshine and smiles,
Kim :)