I first discovered blogs by chance several years ago while surfing the internet and since then, I've been inspired daily by the always creative new posts in my blog reader. Before I delved into blogs, I was an avid Food Network viewer and Ina Garten fan from the start. This was more than a decade ago around the age of 13. I still remember being enthralled and amazed by what Ina was making simply because her French inspired food was so different than what I was used to eating growing up, mainly Cantonese Chinese food with the occasional meal of American fast food, canned soup, or pasta. Although I enjoyed food, my knowledge of food and desire to cook, not to mention baking, was pretty non-existent as it just seemed like a very laborious and difficult task. I made French toast, scrambled eggs, toast, sandwiches, instant ramen, and helped out in the kitchen, but it wasn't until food television came along that I really wanted to become a better cook and explore other cuisines.
I remember watching cooking shows on Saturday mornings hosted by Jacques Pepin, Julia Child, and Michael Chiarello, but for some reason, cooking just didn't really click with me until I was a bit older. It could also have been the result of increased kitchen responsibilities placed on me by my parents as I got older, but credit also has to be given to those food tv hosts that inspired me as well along the way. As food television became more mainstream, it showed how simple and delicious all these other foods could be and if I wanted to taste them, I would have to learn how to make them myself.
Recipe by recipe, I improved and gained an appreciation for eating and making food from scratch. I picked up baking and I started clipping recipes to try as well as collecting recipes with edits that I'd made. Fast forward about a decade and I'm still cooking and baking away. I decided to start this blog really for myself so I could build a catalogue of recipes that work for me and have been adapted to my taste. It makes finding recipes easier and no longer do I have to rely on my scribbled notes along the sides of printed recipes. Blogging and reading other blogs has also taught me a lot and continued to inspire me to try new things.
Most of the recipes on this blog are desserts mainly because that's what I tend to need exact recipes for and have fun testing. There's more tools to play with and it's just exciting to see what can be created from some very basic ingredients. I enjoy eating them as well and I certainly appreciate an excellent slice of cake, but if this blog were a reflection of my favorite foods and what I eat most often, it would be filled with a lot of pastas, salads, roasted chickens, and Chinese food. I love getting inspiration from other blogs for these and while I may try to add more savory dishes to the blog in the future, I don't really follow recipes when I cook. Regardless, I'm excited to continue building a repertoire for myself and I hope you have fun trying these recipes as well.