A little something about me...

Ever since I was a little girl, not much more than three years old, the sweet smells that came from the oven fascinated me and today I am no different.   Rather than spend time playing with friends, I perched myself on the kitchen table to watch my grandmother mix up a batch of batter and place it in the oven.  When she would take it out I was amazed at the delicious looking treat that she set before my eyes. 

When I was nine I branched out on my own.  I dumped some ingredients into a mixing bowl in an attempt to bake my first cake; it was chocolate of course.  To my amazement it came out!  I phoned my grandmother and happily told her that next Friday night for our traditional Sabbath dinner, I was going to bring dessert.  The following Friday morning I dumped my ingredients again in to a bowl, and to my chagrin, I had one whopping failure!  Teary eyed I came to grandma's house empty handed and from that day forward, I had the greatest respect for a recipe.

Recipes used for cooking are purely guidelines for you to arrive at the finished product.  A little more of this or that often does not alter a dish.  In fact, sometimes you can create something even better.  In baking and making desserts it’s a different matter.  Ever since the lesson I learned with baking my first chocolate cake, my philosophy has been to start with a recipe, measure my ingredients accurately, and carefully follow the instructions.   

Because of my un-ending curiosity as to why ingredients work together, today I focus not only on following the recipe, but also exploring the techniques used within the recipe.  As a result, I constantly ask myself  "is there a better way to do this"?  To guide you toward better baking, my discoveries are shared with you.   As a teacher, I believe that once you understand the techniques, you will have more confidence to broaden your horizons and make wonderful creations of your own.

Enjoy!

Carole Walter

   Copyright 2008