Steppmom

about me

I'm a stay-at-home mom with 6 kids, who never stays at home! I live in Fresno, CA. and like to spend time in close-by Yosemite Nat. Park,where it's usally a LOT cooler than Fresno. I enjoy cooking, baking (especially bread, cinnamon rolls, cookies and decorating cakes), and gardening (flowers are my passion--I wish I was better at growing veggies for the table, but the farmers around Fresno take care of us very well!) I love antiques and collectibles and can never have enough magazines and books for ideas on what to do with the gobs of things I've saved over the years. I'm always on the lookout for new "finds"! My hubby has given up on my need to seek and find and keep!
My favorite cookbook is my old tattered Better Homes and Gardens binder-like job that must be 30 years old. I can not, will not give it up, even though I have 3 newer additions. It still has the best recipes for breads, cakes, desserts, and basic cooking. Plus, I'm sorry to say, it has the right amount of salt in the recipes for me-- the newer cookbooks have either eliminated it or lowered it too much and the recipes are BLAND!

Favorite Foods:

I love to bake from scratch. My son Nick begged me to make him a boxed cake with canned frosting for his birthday this year! That was such a treat for him! I couldn't eat it! At church I've become famous for making and teaching others to make Spudnuts, a light as a feather doughnut with mashed potatoes as an ingredient. At bake sales my mint brownies are in demand, along with cinnamon rolls and monster- sized cookies. I figured out how to make a chuck roast taste like pit barbecued beef. This is one of my family's favorites. I serve it with a pot of pinto beans flavored with ground beef, bacon, onions cumin and chicken soup base. Along with a tossed salad and homemade crusty rolls, a feast is at hand! Homemade salsa also goes good on the beef. YUM! When dining out, I like to go to restaurants that serve food that I don't usually prepare, like Thai food or Vietnamese food. I like collecting recipes and am glad that the internet has given me such an open range. I almost don't need cookbooks any more. I can just find what I need on line!

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