Growing up in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country (no, I'm not Amish!), baking is something that is almost expected when you live in rural areas! Many times I would come home from school and open a cookbook looking for a cookie or cake recipe - just to try out! Since my mom worked during the days, and didn't return til late in the afternoons - well, it just seemed natural to teach myself the ins and outs of baking.
At Christmas time, my mom would go bonkers trying out a whole bunch of different cookie recipes, and of course, nothing tastes as good as homemade cookies when you are a kid! (although, I AM partial to Oreo cookies and a TALL glass of ice cold milk for dunkin'!...)
After I was first married, I never (not once!) bought any store mix of a cake or cookie batter, preferring instead to make everything "from scratch". Living in Pennsylvania, when the winters would tend to get downright cold, nothing heated up the house better than homemade bread, cookies or a cake. When I moved to Florida in 1987, I remember calling my parents the very first Christmas that I was there with the comment: "where else but in Florida do you run the Air Conditioner to cook Christmas Dinner?"
During December 1989, I was going thru a very rough financial time, and when a local hotel offered me over $300 to do some baking for tourists that would be coming in over the holidays, I jumped at the chance! Where else could I get paid for doing something so simple as baking dozens of cookies?
These past several Christmases, I began baking in early November (with a houseful of teenagers, how could I not?), and by the time that I finished a day or two before Christmas, we figured that I baked over 2000 different types of cookies! Now THAT is a lot of flour and sugar and eggs and vanilla!
Please take a moment to check out the cakes & desserts section - I am sure that you will find it much to your enjoyment! The Black Walnut Cake recipe is to die for! My ex father-in-law absolutely loves it (his favorite to this day) so whenever I visit, I have to be sure that I bake him one!
Unfortunately, through the years, my love of cooking and baking has caught up with me, and you guessed it - apparently those "oh-so-good" cookies and cakes have taken up permanent residence on my rear, hips and legs.... but, um, well.... *laugh* I can't help I STILL love to bake!
For your convenience, I've specifically indicated if the pages are "Low-Carb" or not.
NOTE: Each recipe has a "print option" if you would like to print out the recipes!
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