Anyone can cook and bake . . .eventually!

Yes, I can produce a perfect plate of cookies. Arriving home late with thirty minutes to spare, I can put together a complete meal for my family. These days, there are few recipes that can defeat me. It hasn’t always been that way.

Although I arrived at the married state knowing my way around a kitchen, it was a basic knowledge. Being a retired art major, sometimes my creative ideas far exceeded my basic culinary knowledge.

One of my first, memorable attempts at German cuisine was potato dumplings. My mother had always made them so a quick call to her and some back up research in a cookbook convinced me these would be a cinch and a meal-time triumph. I carefully prepared the dumplings. I gently slipped them into the simmering water, slapped down the lid, and turned up the heat. The lid rattled from the boiling water. Ten minutes later, I opened the lid to show off to my new husband and discovered a pot of cloudy water and no dumplings! I cried! You never boil dumplings and I found out the hard way.

I volunteered to bring a cake to work. A cake that was always a success, I had no qualms about doubling the recipe. It looked good and smelled great - all orange and cinnamon. The first cut into it at the office party revealed a soggy center. Before I could react, they all exclaimed over the clever custard filling. It was still humbling in my heart!

I had never made a fresh cherry pie but how hard could that be? I pitted the newly picked fruit and eventually pulled a beautiful pie from the oven. You never use sweet cherries for baked pies and this was accentuated by the fact that I had forgotten the sugar for these sour cherries.

After years of family cooking and baking, my mistakes are fewer and further between . . . or, at least, I’m better at rescuing potential disasters. My daughter is slowly taking over in the kitchen and making her own mistakes. We laugh together about them and forge ahead. I tell her I understand because I used to make errors, too. After all, when you burn the beans, you just call them refried and there is absolutely no truth in the rumor that I burned the fried chicken just last week! It was supposed to be extra brown and crispy!