Cynna

about me

Hello fellow Zaar friends! Thanks for checking my "About Me" page. I'm glad you want to get to know me better and I hope you enjoy my recipes as much as I enjoy all of yours!

I'm 29 and I live in a small town about 30 miles west of Indianapolis with my beloved boyfriend whom I've been with for 4 years now.

I lost my kidneys to an auto-immune disorder called Goodpasture's Syndrome on the cusp of my 22nd birthday back in 2000, so I have been on dialysis for 7 years. Goodpasture's is a rare disease that strike about 1 in 100,000 people. Lucky me! Haha!


I have a 10 year old son with autism.


Thanks to all my Zaar friends for donating to his Walk for Autism event this fall! He brought in over 1,000.00 in total and we couldn't be prouder! Thanks again for all your generous help!

I am self-employed, I run a horror website. I write news, reviews, and run a forum. My boyfriend deals with the design and building of websites and I do all the other stuff. It's a good job and I get to work my own hours.

I do a lot of reading and I'm interested in organic farming and getting back to the roots sort of living. One day I'd like to be completely self-sufficient and not have to rely on stores for much of our food. It's a dream, but maybe I can make it a reality someday.

My pet peeves include "easy" recipes that are full of processed junk. Anything boxed or jarred in the store can be made just as quick at home without all the garbage in it. Yuck! Of course, like any good hypocrite, I'm sure I have some recipes with short-cut items, so I'm not perfect. I just like to do most things from scratch. I think it makes for better quality eating and that's important. ^_^

I find making a bechamel just as simple as opening a jar of processed alfredo and I can make it taste 5x better than the store. It's the same with most other things. Why eat the junk when you don't have to?

I have a passion for baking bread that stems from childhood. My father always makes the most delicious loaves of homemade bread so now it's my goal to achieve the same level of skill or dare I say, surpass him? *grins* It's mostly about the nostalgia though, he doesn't make bread as often as I would like him to.

My mother is also great in the kitchen. She's always experimenting and has even started a pot-luck at her workplace. She used to make holiday candy and cookie platters, which were always out-of-this world. I still nag her to make almond bark and chocolate covered pretzels. I think she should quit her job and open up a sweet shop. Look her up here on Zaar as
gardenlady

I think I got my interest in the kitchen from both my parents and spurred into action by Alton Brown. He's my culinary hero!






















ZAAR TIME

Favorite Foods:

This could go on forever. I'm a huge fan of mushrooms, fresh baked breads, beef, fresh fruits and vegetables. I think my favorite fruits are sour cherries and blueberries. I also seem to have an obsession with coffee cakes, muffins, and pies and save every recipe I run across. Haha! I could live on tamales and breakfast sandwiches too. Mmmm!

I get on flavor kicks sometimes, preferring certain kinds of food. I think it's seasonal. I'm open to trying anything, which makes Zaar an even more exciting place to be. I think my favorite kitchen hobby has to be trying different bread recipes or making up my own.

http://www.myspace.com/cynnamongrrl