A Renewed Passion

It’s been a little over a month since I’ve updated on here so I figured I should probably give it a go. People who have known me for a long time know that baking has always been one of my passions. Yes, yes you read that right, baking. When I was a little boy I would often watch my Mother bake and then began lending a hand as I got older. I liked being around her and all the smells of her kitchen and the wonderful things that would come out of her oven, especially her banana walnut bread and her chocolate Bundt cake with confectionary sugar sprinkled on top.

As I got older I started baking things on my own, mostly from boxed mixes with the occasional banana walnut bread from scratch thrown in. As time passed I started making more and more things from scratch, like my Na Na’s peanut butter cookies or raspberry muffins. When I first met my wife I wooed her with chocolate chip oatmeal cookies and cinnamon streusel cake until she begged me to stop the oven baked onslaught!

In recent years I had gotten away from baking; really only doing it around the holidays. My Dad and older sister Nadine just had to have my homemade cornbread on Thanksgiving and everyone else was always clamoring for Na Na’s peanut butter cookies. However I have recently undergone somewhat of a baking resurgence. And I have to say, my daughter Lyric really deserves most of the credit.

Over the last year or so Lyric has developed a new found obsession with the Food Network and shows like Ace Of Cakes and Cake Boss. As I result I have found myself becoming a fan of Diners, Drive Ins, & Dives, Man vs. Food, The Best Thing I Ever Ate, Good Eats, and Chopped. Through becoming an avid fan of these shows I have subsequently become a fan of Chefs Guy Fieri, Alton Brown, Paula Deen, Michael Symon, and Chris Santos.

Another result of watching these programs has been the stoking of my desire to make the dishes I have seen featured on them. Or to seek out other recipes that I had always wanted to try, but just never attempted. And in doing so, spending time with my wife and daughter doing something we can all enjoy, like making a red velvet cake from scratch or baked macaroni and cheese. I would absolutely love it if my daughter were to become a Chef or Pastry Chef!

My wife has also recently become obsessed with idea of us mastering the art of making our own pizza. Right now getting the crust right is our biggest nemesis! However, we have faith that our recent purchases of both a pizza stone and a pizza peel will aid us in our efforts!

My teammates have also benefitted greatly from my recent culinary adventures as my wife often likes for me to get them out of the house to prevent us from overindulging! Some of my recent conquests have been my Split Decision Layer Cake (Vanilla Cake on top, Chocolate Cake on bottom, milk chocolate icing), chocolate peanut butter cupcakes, donut muffins (my wife says they are the best thing I have ever made and I may be inclined to agree), apple muffins, and a really amazing marinated skirt steak.

Yes, I have been branching out into cooking as well. I had always cooked a few things here and there like fajitas or tacos or chili or the occasional meat loaf, but I am starting to cook more and more. I have printed out a HUGE binder full of recipes for appetizers, main courses, and of course desserts that I want to try.

I have really been enjoying the time I have been spending in the kitchen both with my wife and daughter and on my own. I had almost forgotten how enjoyable it can be to have my music blaring as I try out a new recipe and bounce around the kitchen and then the triumph of a successful attempt at a new dish. I’ve also taken to photographing my culinary adventures, a fact which my Mrs. finds quite amusing I must say. She also thinks it’s incredibly humorous that lately all I can talk about is what new chokes I am trying out or what recipe I want to attempt next!

Again, I must thank my daughter for getting me back in the kitchen and my wife for putting up with my renewed culinary obsession. It has really been extremely rewarding being back in the kitchen and trying out all matter of new things. Tonight I’ll be going with an old standby, my Mom’s famous banana walnut bread!