So here I am, finally in New York City! As you can see from the picture above, my workspace view has changed dramatically from the gorgeous woods north of Lake Harriet. But I will say this, the action, life and energy just outside my window is quite inspiring.

Now, I know this “spontaneous” move to New York City came as a bit of a shock to many. But this was a true culmination of 3 months of deep debate, thought and question. But as life so often does for me, a light shown bright personally and professionally and I knew right away that this was the move I needed to make. You see, over the summer my personal life took a turn in a most wonderful direction and as the falling leaves began to give way to winter, I found the most recent professional chapter coming to a close.

The most remarkable part of all of this is the ultimate fulfillment of a dream I held since high school. Just ask my parents about my set goals back then of going to school in New York. There has always been this pull towards this city that I suppressed for so many years. But aside from everything, I know that this midwest kid from a small town in Minnesota needed time to gain experience in Fargo, expand cultural awareness in Minneapolis and ultimately land in the big apple with both feet firmly planted and ready to tackle the next step of my life.

So what is coming next for this small town kid in the big city?  Good question! Even I don’t completely know. What I do know is that the next career move will be amazing and rewarding whatever it might be and that my love and joy for cooking and baking will find its way into a book that I’m working on in hopes to deliver it by this time next year.

There is my update and a little tidbit of where I’m at and what I’m doing.  The adventure continues and what is next can only be described as one big adventure.

Stay tuned!

I’m going through one of those purge exercises we all attempt from time to time and stumbled across the “memory chest”.  You see in 9th grade I made this oak chest that has been the storage place for everything; photos, Christmas cards, letters, playbills from shows I was in, newspaper clippings, you name it.

One treasure that I discovered was a book of captured memories from my senior year.  Now I know I had intentions of actually filling it out at the time, but I only got to page 6 of what was supposed to be a 54 page journal.  I’m sure my mother would be thrilled that this piece of valuable memorabilia was put to good use.

Well here is what was captured 14 years ago.

At the time my friends referred to me as C-Ball (I think this was invented by my friend Liz and an attempt to live up to the “West Side” moniker of attempting to be gangsters)

I rolled out of bed at 6:00 am (I’ll admit here that it was only because my dad came down and woke me at that hour) and classes began at 8:20 am. My sister was 9 at the time, my brother 14 and lets just say that my parents were 14 years younger than they are today.

My haircut consisted and I quote “use gel and comb forward and then back for the authentic ‘GQ’ look.” The shoes were Doc Martins and leather sandals (Birkenstock), Music styles I liked haven’t changed; Pop and Orchestra.  I wore clothes from Structure, GAP, A&F, Eddie Bauer, Old Navy and cite Dayton’s in St. Paul as my favorite department store.

My favorite music groups were Savage Garden, Celine Dion, Madonna and Janet Jackson.  All I have to say here is if this wasn’t a clue to my mother of things to come I don’t know what is.  My favorite T.V. show was “Touched By An Angel” (I watched this with my mom religiously). Favorite movie was Titanic and best liked celebrities were Kate Winslet, Celine Dion and Rosie O’Donnel (Yes that was really the list back then).

Here is what really blows my mind.  On page 4 was a rundown of prices I paid for things.  $2.99 for burger and fries, $5 for a movie ticket, $1.19 for a gallon of gas, $70 for a pair of jeans, $100 for shoes, $2 to rent a video, $12 for a large pizza, 89 cents for a soft drink, 68 cents for a candy bar, $30 for a concert ticket, $16 on a CD, $8 for a haircut and $20 for a night out.  I’ll admit, some of these have gone down, some up and many I found astounding that we got things at that price!

Well there is the trip down memory lane.  Hope you enjoyed!

I just got back from 10 days in New York City and let me tell you – QUITE a blast.  Looking forward to returning VERY soon.  Check out the pictures from the trip.

Many have come to know the joys of my mother’s famous “My Favorite Recipes” cookbook. Its the coveted gift from any friend graduating, getting married or hitting another milestone in life. For those missing out on the milestone gift there is of course the rare occasion when the sacred book will land in a silent auction for a local charity.

Well, this book is home to a recipe for banana bread that I have found to be very fond of over the years.  Of course I gave it a small upgrade with a not-so-secret ingredient, Ghiradelli’s milk chocolate chips.

Another trick that I deploy with the bananas is letting them fully ripen (I’m talking brown) then throw them in the freezer till your ready for a bake off. Then set them out to thaw in the fridge overnight the day before. When it comes time to use them just pull off one of the ends and squeeze out the insides (juices and all). Believe me this makes quite the difference in the moisture content of the bread when done. Read More »