I enjoy food and love to cook and bake. My aunt was a wonderful cook and I remember growing up and visiting her and my grandfather for a week or two during summer vacations as a child was my inspiration. She would always make me some very special treats, but the most fun was that she allowed me to help. We made cookies, fudge, brownies, and other sweet temptations. My most memorable experience was a time that we made divinity. My aunt was busy beating the egg whites and other ingredients to make the initial fluff and my job was to gently pour the hot sugar syrup in a very fine, but steady stream into the egg whites as she continued to beat. The results were absolutely fantastic! From that point on it seems that I always did a lot of the baking at our house growing up, especially during the holiday seasons. I enjoyed making chocolate chip cookies, spritz cookies, fruit pies (my favorite), cakes, boiled custard (family favorite at Christmas with Kentucky Blackberry Jam Cake).  


When my daughter Lauren and her sister Emily were small, I always enjoyed baking and decorating birthday cakes for them. We chose collectibles for each daughter: Lauren - clowns and Emily - teddy bears. Not only did we supplement to the collections at every opportunity possible, but we also used these as themes for each of their birthday cakes for the first few years. I made and decorated clown and teddy bear cakes using a different design or technique each year.  


So I can definitely understand where Lauren has maybe received some of her inspiration. I follow her blog site on a regular basis and also share recipes that I find and enjoy with her. A couple of years ago my wife and I made a trip to Mobile, AL, to visit Lauren and Randolph (her husband). It was Randolph's 30th birthday and Lauren asked me to help her bake a guitar shaped cake for him. This was a fun time to get to engage in a baking project with her. I just wish we lived closer together so that we could collaborate more often.  


I am a manager of information technology for a manufacturing company in the Cincinnati, OH, area. But my passion for food and cooking is one of my most fulfilling activities. I cook breakfast for a men's group at my church the first Saturday of every month and also have catered and prepared many larger scale meals  at our church for special fellowship events and other gatherings. These larger preparations have included a made from scratch lasagna dinner for 200 people, chili suppers, pancake breakfasts, Swedish meatballs and noodles, pulled pork BBQ, and most recently this past weekend spaghetti and meatballs.  


I don't like to take shortcuts, so when I take on a cooking project, I like to make my main course, sides, and desserts fresh and from scratch whenever practical. Sometimes I think that I missed my true calling and even wish that I had taken some chef training courses. My classroom is the Food Network. I am obsessed with all the great chefs and personalities: Paula Deen, Giada, Bobby Flay, Guy Fieri, Ina Garten, Alton Brown, Tyler Florence, Emeril, and Anne Burrell. I have a good friend who helps me a lot with my large scale cooking projects. He and I have discussed many times of going into business together to open a small breakfast and lunch bistro featuring a variety of cuisines as well as decadent desserts and pastries.