No Bake Cookies...

I love my kitchen. I love the retro looking yellow stove. I love all the cabinets and counter space. I even love my window I look out of when I wash dishes. The truth of the matter is, the kitchen is one of my favorite rooms in my house. In any house for that matter.

Cooking has always been something that interests me. If you know much about me, you know that a dream of mine has always been to have my own bakery. I remember thinking that over seriously when deciding my career in life. I then remembered how I am not exactly an early riser, and decided I couldn't pursue that dream. Just yesterday I was gazing at all the beautiful baked goods at Panera and wished to be in my kitchen baking away something that would fill the house with a delicious smell. I love to bake. If I had my little way, I would be making pies all day long. I love the movie Waitress, where she sits around and thinks up new pie recipes when the rest of the world gets her down. I would be in heaven if I had my own restaurant that had a menu filled with all the different pies I had invented and baked that day. Makes me smile just thinking about it.

Cooking and baking have been something that I have always been around. My grandma Williams was an excellent cook. And my mom is still outstanding in the kitchen. I was a very lucky girl who got to be around two ladies who really knew/know their way around the kitchen. I have many fond memories of both these ladies and our adventures in the best room in the house.

With grandma, I got to watch and help with alot of things, but the one thing that stands out the most is her dumplins. Her chicken and dumplins were famous in our family. I can now make some pretty awesome chicken and dumplins thanks to her teaching. It is about time I make my first batch this fall - now if it would just stay cool enough to really appreciate them. :)

With mom, I got to help with a variety of things. See, I was around mom cooking every single night. The older I got, the more I got to do with her in the kitchen. Now when I am home with her in the kitchen, we are a cooking team. When one walks away from the stove to start on something else, the other swings in there like a relief stirrer to make sure nothing sticks or burns. If one of us is chopping veggies when the oven goes off, the other sweeps in with oven mitts and saves the casserole from drying out. One of our favorite things to do is to cook together. If we have spare time on our hands, mom might look at me and say - "Want to bake some cookies?" And I always reply with - "Of course!" We have such a great time together in that kitchen standing side by side working. When I think of cooking with mom, the recipe that comes to mind first is No Bake Cookies. I think we have made a MILLION BAJILLION batches of these cookies. We love them! They are easy to make, and you almost always have all the ingredients in your pantry without having to go to the store. AND this recipe is one of those where mom and I just dance around the kitchen and each other doing our own jobs simultaneously and then looking like we weren't even trying very hard - make something absolutely delicious.

I made some No Bake Cookies tonight by myself. Mom wasn't here to work with me. And do you know what? I left one little thing out. Guess not having mom with me really throws me off sometimes. :)

Love ya Ma!