I have loved baking and reading recipes since the time I started reading. I still have the very first cookbook my mom bought for me. What I remember most about making “Dandy-Candy”, a recipe from this book, is how exciting it was to create something so delicious and how much fun I had sharing the candy with my family after making it. My grandmothers baked. I still remember baking with my mom and w
ith my grandmas. My family loved when my grandma visited and brought a batch of her butter cookies. Everyone we knew loved when she baked those cookies! My dad would hide some of the cookies so there would still be some left for us after sharing them with our friends and neighbors. My grandma enjoyed eating them as well, but her real joy came from making the cookies for others to enjoy. When she became older and was ready to pass on the cookie-baking torch, she imparted a few tips she used over the years when making her cookies. She reminded me and my cousins to always use oven mitts, to unplug the mixer when we were done, to wash our hands often, and to make sure we had the right measuring spoons and cups. At the time, my cousins and I laughed because we considered her advice to be so “cute” and nothing more than a part of our grandmother’s sweet nature. As part of her words of baking wisdom, my grandma told us that before putting her cookies in the oven, she always said a little something to them….“You come out real good now!”. After 35+ years of baking, I realize the importance of what my grandma was really doing when she was talking to her cookies. She was putting her heart and soul into them. While I admit that I haven’t always talked to my baked goods before putting them in the oven, I have carried on my grandma’s love for baking and I, too, truly love sharing what I bake with others. In carrying on my grandma’s tradition, I’m excited to launch Sassy Sweets!