I was recently asked what I like. What do I like to do? I had realized that while there are some things I like but I rarely ever do them now. I really love to cook. I love to search for recipes. I like to read about ingredients. I like to plan menus. I absolutely love to cook for other people. I love gadgets and dream one day of having a proper kitchen for an enthusiastic cook. I usually get a new Henkel knife or a piece of All-Clad cookware from Santa each year. While I have never had any formal training, I believe myself to be skilled and talented in the kitchen. As an adult, cooking is one of the rare venues for which I am praised. I have a true fantasy of one day cooking for others regularly. I would love to have a small boutique bakery. People could come in for a simple little dessert. Cookies of all assortments, brownies, bars, quick breads, muffins, cupcakes and scones.
People could get a lemon bar or a checkerboard brownie or a slice of banana bread and an ice cold carton of milk. I also love cook books. There was this spectacular little book store in Charleston called Hoppin Johns. I could spend hours looking through cookbooks, imagining table settings and arrangements. This weekend I will make my Granny’s pear conserve, as my medical assistant, Leigh brought me 2 bushels of sand pears.
I like to garden. You would never know this looking at the state of my yard. I have beds filled with perennials that attract butterflies and bugs. My yard is filled with birds. At dusk, the small bats all come out. I have monkey grass that is the equivalent of a 4th generation descendant of monkey grass from my Granny’s house. I also have walking irises from her house and an heirloom rose bush that only blooms once a year. Beside that is a cotton candy colored antique rose that has blossums more like miniature carnations. It was transplanted along with my lace-cap Hydrangea from Charleston. I have 4 blue berry bushes. Spirea. Daylilies that repeat bloom from early may to July. One year Cameron and I had a winter vegetable garden and actually harvested carrots. That might be a fun fall project for me and the kids……a winter garden.
