About Me

Hi! I’m Shari. I’m a retired educator who likes to spend time in the kitchen trying new recipes, tweaking old standards and sampling as I go.

I learned to cook from my mother who, somehow, managed to work full-time outside the home, and make dinner every night for six hungry kids and a frugal husband. I learned to use the ingredients we had on hand and to substitute often. Adaptation was just a part of cooking. Lemon zest is a great example. Lemons weren’t a staple in my Ohio childhood home. We just ignored any recipe that called for lemon zest. I was WELL into adulthood before I ever thought to buy a lemon and actually figure out how to zest it!

Over the years I became more adept at cooking and had ready access to ingredients and equipment. But as a public school educator, my days, while rewarding, were also long and stressful. As a means of relieving stress, I began baking cookies–often. Sometimes fancy cookies, but more often than not, old-fashioned recipes updated for today’s kitchen. Even now that I’m retired, baking continues to be therapeutic for me, and sharing what I make with others brings me happiness.

Most of my recipes are so old that I have no idea where I found them. Many are from scraps of paper with hastily scribbled notes as my mother would dictate one of her “Just bake it at 350” oral recipes. Some are recipes that I’ve adapted from others. All have been taste tested by my husband, Greg, and the dogs–if they were lucky enough to get a scrap or two.

I hope that you’ll find something here that will satisfy your current craving, and come back often for more!

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