Starting Up

I am beginning this blog because ... well, it just sounds fun. I've been cooking (and baking) for years - I love trying new things, experimenting with recipes and continuing to use the tried and true ones that have been in my recipe box forever. Cooking is in my blood - my mother loves to cook, my grandmother loved to cook and now my daughters are enjoying cooking as well.

For years I had tried all i could to recreate a friend's chocolate chip cookies - at that time, my favorite - they were fluffy and cakey. Tried as i may - and I honestly would bake dozens a week to try to get them to be 'fluffy'..it just wouldn't work. Believe me, i tried everything. Nothing worked. My cookies were always good but they weren't impressing me. That was all about to change.
Less than a year ago, I was presented with the opportunity of a lifetime. I was strongly urged that I should accept a job baking baskets full of cookies/brownies for a large accounting firm in Massachusetts - 10 to 20 a week to send to clients - and get paid a pretty penny for it. I jumped at such an offering! Afterall, I am a stay at home Mom who had been out of the 'workforce' for 6.5 years - how great would it be to earn an additional income to help out my hard-working husband?! "The Goodie Box" was born.

Just like that, I knew I had to come up with THE perfect cookie and a unique brownie recipe. A little bit of this, some more of that.. testing with neighbors, friends, family..next batch, next batch, next batch. Guess what won? The Flat Chewy cookie that for years I was trying to run from. This single cookie that was my foe for so many years (well, with a few additional changes) was now earning me a paycheck.

Lesson Learned: Grab the opportunities laid in front of you -and run with it! I now am baking for a number of other businesses as promotional gifts for clients ... and am still trying to get my name out there even more.

Although I cannot give out the recipe for my cookies... I am happy to share recipes for many of the recipes that make my family and friends say "This is SO good! I need the recipe!"

Enjoy!