A SPOONFUL OF SUGAR HELPS THE MEDICINE GO DOWN….

I don’t know if a child could love a film more than I loved the Julie Andrews classic Mary Poppins.  Maybe it was those lavender shoes she pulled out of her bag.  Perhaps it was the chimney sweep dance across the rooftops, or the carousel-horse race, or the floating tea party.  Each moment of magic sparked its own little fantasy, and at the end of the film another little daydreamer was born.

I never aspired to be a writer or a cook or anything in between.  My brother, 23 and published, is the true scribe in the family.  So these blogs are a whole lot of nothing, really.  It started out as a journal of sorts, a bit of a coping mechanism, a bit of a way to kill time, and mostly an organized way to share some of the recipes that my friends and coworkers have requested (okay demanded…).  However, in writing it all down it’s started to turn into a collection of memories, experiences, thoughts (and rants) of a 20-something gal living in the city.  Some of it’s new.  Some old. It’s probably all silly and mostly self-indulgent, but the recounting of these recipes and memories associated with them has become my own little spoonful of sugar.

There’s nothing like the satisfaction of creating something wonderful of your own, and for me there is no therapy that compares to the slow and lovely calm of cooking or baking.  I grew up in a home where family dinner is the most important part of the day.  My mother taught me the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.  A box of cake mix is practically a sin.  Favorite recipes are used over and over and handed down as precious treasures, but finding or creating a new gem is just as special.  Cooking together is the best way to step outside the world and re-connect, and cooking for someone is the best way to show that you care.  The food has been an integral and shimmering thread in the fabric of my family.  These recipes are my spoonful of sugar to sweeten each day,  and I hope you get a little kick out of it too…