Starting out...

      Welcome to my kitchen!  It is here that I do my best work...where my heart sings while I create food with love (and many years of trial and error.) 

       I was fortunate to grow up among outstanding cooks and hostesses.  My maternal grandparents were caterers.  My mother and aunts followed in their footsteps teaching me that not only does food have to taste good, but that presentation was a big part of the whole package.  My first real recollection of cooking someting myself goes waaaaaay back to when  I was five years old.  My mother was in the hospital having just given birth to my sister, and I was left with my father and my aunts. I clearly remember asking my Daddy if I could make scrambled eggs for him.  I can still smell his after-shave as he tied an apron around my waist and handed me a wire whisk.  He let me whisk the eggs, pour them into the pan, and held me close to him as he scrambled them to creamy, fluffy perfection.  Perhaps the sheer joy of that first time I cooked, and the wonder of Daddy cooking with me, is what has brought me into the kitchen over and over again to re-experience that happiness...it works every time!!

  In addition to my mother being an extraordinary and adventurous cook, she was a creative and outstanding hostess.  Her table arrangements and presentations were beautiful and unusual.  Her menus were always exciting and the food delicious.  My Aunt Ethel, who lived across the courtyard was also a wonderful cook.  Her dishes were mostly those from my grandmother and Great-Aunt Vera...with an ethnic origin, but always with a gourmet twist.  Friday night dinners at my aunt's house were definitely my favorite, with succulent dishes all cooked to perfection, and always a surprise dish made especially for my sister and me.

  When I got married I was suddenly on my own in the kitchen.  I started right out having parties for friends and family, using familiar recipes. I loved planning the menus, decorating the table and having my guests enjoy it all, knowing all the while it was exactly what my mother would have done!  Then I began to collect new recipes...trying them out first on my husband and then on my children and finally, on guests.  As each "experiment" met with the approval of the "tasters" it was added to my file.  As the file grew so did my confidence.  Many of my best recipes were from my mother.  She was most assuredly the best cook and baker.  Her brisket of beef cannot be topped, and even with some tweaking on my part, the recipe is still mostly hers and totally terrific!

  From now on I will try to give some background and then offer a recipe or two to share.  Since I did not know what to share today, I thought perhaps what I made for brunch for my husband and me...with a bow to my mother...her Cottage Cheese Pancakes...

Marcy's Cottage Cheese Pancakes

1/2 lb cottage cheese (or riccotta...which I prefer)

1 cup sour cream

2 eggs

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. sugar

Blend all ingredients to a thick batter.  Heat 3 tbsp. oil and 1 tbsp. butter and drop full tablespoons of  batter into heated oil.  Cook till golden brown  on each side.

Top with strawberries, blueberries, sour cream and cinnamon and sugar. (one, several or all!!)