New Beginnings

So...after June 29, I am no longer working for my former employer.  It's a long, ugly story so I won't burden you with it but suffice to say: I am relieved and a lot of the stress has been lifted.

That leaves me with A LOT of time on my hands.  A dear friend of mine asked if I would bring food into her business to sell to staff and of course I snapped that right up.  I'm developing a menu to take and hope to build a clientele through there.

I've been applying for jobs but what I really want to do is work with food: catering business, lunch truck, food truck, personal cook, cafe, etc.  I think this is my future, just not sure how to get from point A to point B. 

In filling my almost endless days, I've stumbled into baking.  I've always said that I'm not the baker in the family.  That has always fallen to Stef, our oldest daughter, but in digging through Pinterest,  There are so many recipes that I want to try that I decided to jump in.  Things I've baked in the past two weeks:

Peach Breakfast Bake
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip (okay, not really baking but still yummy)
Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
Molasses Cookies
Homemade Cheese Crackers (two varieties)
Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies - Just from a basic mix
Brown Sugar Cookies with Brown Butter Icing (On the link, you'll have to scroll down)
Super Fudgy Brownies - from a mix but used applesauce instead of oil and it made them dense and delicious!
10-Grain Bread - from a mix from Bob's Red Mill. 

Not a huge amount of baking...unless you're me.

I've also done a TON of cooking...so many things that I'm struggling to recall them all so here are some highlights:

Roasted veggie roll-ups (just threw these together on a whim)
Filo Tomato Tart
Creamy Mushroom Pasta Sauce - made this one up last night.  Just sauteed mushrooms, olive oil and cream served over cavatipi pasta. YUMMMM!!
Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs-from a cookbook, can't find a link
Grilled Baked Potatoes - idea from my good friend Janice who made them much better than I did
Shredded Potato Salad - I didn't make it as sweet as the recipe calls for
Antipasto Pasta Salad - for 40 people, no less.  Made A LOT of salad!
Corn on the cob in the microwave - no silk!
Banana Walnut Pancakes

I'll have much more time and energy to update my blog so hopefully I can update more often.  Much more food in store to share.