Gotta Start Somewhere!

In case the title didn't give it away, this is a blog about my adventures in baking. To be honest, I never would have thought to create a "food blog" if not for a friend of my wife's who, upon tasting the latest iteration my ginger-lemon cream cookies, blurted out "Food blog! Corporate sponsorship! Food Network show!" (He's an incredible "anything is possible" kind of guy, so it was a really small leap from blog to television show for him.) Once the hyperbolic excitement died down, though, I had to admit the idea was attractive, so here I am writing about baking!

But why baking? I do a pretty good job with cooking and have turned out many a fine meal. I've created about a dozen amazing seven-course dinner events over the years. My absolute favorite thing to do, though, is present a delicious and spectacular dessert to top off those meals. I love creating the perfect baked good. And by "perfect" I mean a dish that makes me happy and puts smiles on the faces of my guests. Not every dessert or meal I make comes out looking as though it could be on the menu of a four-star restaurant but seeing people react as though it could be is one part of the thrill for me. Another is going through the process: finding the recipe, determining if it will work for my purposes, shopping for ingredients, deciding on substitutions or alterations to fit my tastes, putting it all together and then seeing it come out of the oven ready for consumption. And, of course, watching it disappear from the plates.

I bake to share and I write to share, so I hope I'll be able to comment back and forth with people here. I don't pretend to be the greatest baker in the world or even a true gourmand. I know what I like and I have fun pursuing that. Sometimes it's upscale (remind me to tell you about the three tier chocolate cake I baked for my 30th birthday) and sometimes it's down and dirty comfort food (biscuits). It's all joy to me! 

So, I'll be talking about my baking inspirations, sources for recipes, successes, failures (there have been plenty and I'm sure there will be plenty more), obsessions and desires. I'll take any excuse to bake -- dinner parties, high teas, afternoon teas, birthday gatherings -- and I take pictures of nearly everything, so there will be a visual record to go along with what I write. I'm just looking to share the fun of all this with anyone who's interested enough to stick around.

Besides, my last name is Baker! How else should I be spending my spare time?