Baking Aficionado

   Ever since I was a little girl, I loved to bake. Honestly, I think it all started when my Mom bought me my very first Easy-Bake oven. For those who don't know what it is, take a second to 'Google' it. They are the coolest things ever, and I do believe they spawned a whole generation of avid little Betty Crockers in our world. I grew up in a house of boys - 3 brothers, no sisters, and my dear Mom and Dad. Being the only girl and being plunged into a world of Transformers, Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles, video games, and daily charlie horses, naturally I found ways to embrace my girl side - baking goodies being one of them. Funny enough, I actually do remember the day I got my Easy-Bake oven. It wasn't anything like the ones you see in stores now, oh no no no. This was one was smaller, plain old black and tan, and the inside was pretty basic as well. It came with all the little mini cake pans and muffin pans, and mixes. How a tiny light bulb could cook these cakes is still amazing to me, and if I tried to eat them now I'm sure they would taste something like an old sponge, but back in the day I rocked it!! My brothers were always hanging around me and my little oven asking me to bake and share with them. Hm, funny enough, that still hasn't changed one bit. To this day I have not only continued with my leisure baking of sweets and treats, but now it's become quite a passion of mine. I actually find it therapeutic sometimes. Seriously, I DO! No it does not have anything to do with the glass of wine I like to sip on while baking up a storm, I swear......or does it? Really though, I just love it! It's all sorts of fun for me, from making the tested and true traditional stand-by's, to experimenting with new flavors, creativity, and techniques. Most of all, it's almost nostalgic for me, and I have so many childhood memories of just baking for hours in the kitchen, at first with my Mom, then on my own - I started becoming a bit of a baking snob and didn't want anyone helping me because I wanted to do everything all on my own. Stubborn little miss independent I was. One thing has always remained the same though, once I had that apron on and that recipe out, I was in my own little world where everything felt warm, comforting, and happy....and I just loved creating delicious things for my friends and family and watching them enjoy it........and I still do. I love designing and decorating cakes, I love fusing decadent ingredients, and I love creating the ultimate in mouth-watering and visually appealing sweets............but I also love simplicity, and taking it back to the old and familiar comfort goodies. You know the kinda stuff I'm talking about - banana bread, rice krispies squares, apple pie, chocolate chip cookies. This weekend I made rice krispies squares, peanut butter cookies, and old fashioned rice pudding. How's that for nostalgia? Some of the easiest things to make, but yet so satisfying and reminiscent of being a kid. (Not gonna lie, I had both rice pudding and cookies for breakfast today) Isn't it funny how some things bring you right back to that time? I love it. I may not have whipped up anything  fancy or decadent this weekend, but I know I would have made Snap,Crackle, and Pop proud!

Loss Of The Human Touch

Remember the good ol' days of communication before cell phones? Before email? Before Skype or Face Time? Well I do. I'm a 90s kid and proud of it! Obviously I realize that as time progresses, so will technology, but damn.....did it have to happen at warp speed? Can I just say how much I miss the 'phone call'? Can we bring it back? It hasn't gone out of style completely yet but I'm worried it might be well on it's way. People just don't call each other anymore, and we have cell phones to blame for it. I still remember when cell phones first came out actually. My Dad came home with this big ass car cell phone, and he was grinning ear to ear over it. The thing was huge and hideous. It came in this zip up, knapsack material, lunch bag-looking thing, and the buttons and screen display were horribly big and bright green. Oh, how we've advanced since then.

Growing up, I remember how I used to have phone conversations for hours with friends, and boys. I even remember when there was no call waiting, and if you called someone you would get the dreaded busy signal and have no choice but to hang up, wait, and try call again. Also, when you were going to meet up with a friend, you would have to previously arrange it with them over the phone or whenever you had seen them, and then show up at the destination and wait patiently for each other. Now? Well let's see.....first of all, you're lucky if the two of you even have an actual voice on voice conversation, then you have the oh-so beloved text messaging benefit where no matter what you're doing, no matter where you are, you can type up a quick text to convey your message without even having to talk to the person! Sure, some would argue that texting is convenient, and I'll admit it is for sure, but if we keep losing the human touch on eeeeeverything, then tell me, what will be left? 

Going back to the long phone conversations, can you honestly remember the last time you spoke on the phone to a friend or family member longer than the total time it takes to order takeout or the amount of time it takes to call and book in a car appointment? C'mon, be honest with yourself here. I miss the good ol' days when you would talk for hours on the phone with friends or family, or when you'd anticipate the first phone call from that guy/girl you met. It wasn't just because of the conversation itself, but it was also because you'd get to hear their voice, their emotions, their laughs. Not this 'lol' business! Who invented 'lol' anyways? While I'm on the subject of text, you know what else I really miss? Letters. Notes. Pen Pals. Yes maybe I'm getting a little too nostalgic here, and a bit unrealistic in a world where we are driven by electronic EVERYTHING, but I really do miss sweet sentiments like those. Back in Elementary and Junior High everyone (well, the girls) would write notes to each other in class, in between class, even at home in our spare time. We even had special ways of folding our notes too. I swear, passing notes got me through the toughest of days sometimes. I know that snail mail letters aren't going to be making a comeback, and probably by the time I'm finished with this blog post here, there will be some new technological discovery allowing for more efficiency, thus less time for one on one human contact, but I do think we all need to make just a little bit more of an effort to chill out on the texting, and instead pick up the phone and call. No miscommunication, no spelling errors, no emoticons. Just actual conversation, warm voices, real emotion, and good contagious laughs. Try it out sometime, good conversation never gets old, and never goes out of style ;)

Bird and Butterfly

So today I finished the last chapter of my most recent read ; "Amy, My Daughter" written by Mitch Winehouse. I really enjoy reading biographies, and found this one to be one of my most favorite for sure. I'm not sure if it was because it was written by her father Mitch, and how I felt I could really relate to the father-daughter relationship......or if it was just that it was such a passionate, detailed and tragic story about one of the greatest singers and songwriters ever (in my opinion). But one thing's for sure, and that's that it revealed more about Amy Winehouse than I knew, or I'm sure that anyone knew really.

Amy Winehouse was a beautiful R&B/jazz singer and songwriter from England who won many awards in the UK, 6 Grammy Awards, and even made it into the 2009 Guinness Book of World Records for Most Grammy Awards won by a British Female Act. No doubt about it, this woman was incredible. However.......she, and her family went through hell and back, ups and downs, and in circles throughout her incredible journey. I'm not gonna sit here and bang out a mini bio of her or anything, no, I just wanted to type up a post about my thoughts and opinions after finishing it.

After finishing this book, I realized a few things that really stood out to me.One, that Amy was a real girl, who grew into a real woman, just like myself. She came from a normal family, had loving parents, had good ol' family bickering and squabbling showdowns, and throwing tantrums just like any other hormonal teenaged girl. She had things she was passionate about, but also things she hated. She was a fun-loving girl who loved singing at the top of her lungs annoying everyone around and driving her family mad at times, and was a prankster around the house with her brother and her father.

Two, that just like every other human on this planet, she had an 'achilles heel', a weakness, she made mistakes. Three, she had an enormous heart, had nothing but love for everyone around her, and was consumed by love. I guess you could say that that was the driving force behind her addictions leading to her death. All for the man she was terribly in love with. 

Such a tragic story really, and I do believe that most women can relate to a part of it. The part where she met a man named Blake, and Blake soon became her world. She did anything and everything for him, was consumed by him, and they spent every waking second together. Unfortunately for Amy, he was a heroin, crack-cocaine addict, and it all spiraled from there, leading to her heroin/crack-cocaine addiction, and then alcoholism. You gotta hand it to the media though - they did quite the job of painting an ugly ugly picture of Amy Winehouse, showcasing solely her 'ugly' side when the poor girl was relapsing or just coming out of a bad situation. Always quick to capture the photos of her in her dark moments, and conjuring or twisting up false stories, but never the sweet moments, the times where she had gone more than a few days without a drink, had put back on some healthy weight and was dressed beautifully, or when she give thousands of dollars to sick people on the street who needed help, or when she was out with friends or her father having tea and lunch, telling jokes and having a good laugh, or the time when she spent thousands of dollars in St Lucia paying for horse rentals for all the poor local kids there who couldn't afford to rent them and ride around all day. She had heart and soul, and it showed in all her songs, and her performances. 

It's quite mind-blowing what drugs, and love can do to a person. Blake was a real piece of work alright. If you ever decide to read this book, you'll see why. But let me just say that addiction comes in ALL forms. It's not just drug, alcohol, sex, gambling. It's everything. Addiction consumes you, mind, body, and soul, and there is only one person who can help it, and that's the one going through it first-hand. It's not that Amy was just some junkie and alcoholic who had no remorse for anything. It's not that she was 'strange' and had issues as a child growing up. Also, it's not that fame got to her head. No. She was a beautiful woman who took a wrong turn all because of love. She was a a devoted, and ridiculously talented musician. She put everyone before herself, and had the loveliest and strongest of relationships with her father. She loved fashion, she loved to have KFC meal times with her father, she loved people, and she wanted nothing more than to be a mother one day.

She was just like anybody else.

We all have passions. We all have addictions.

We all want to love. We all want to be loved.

We will all leave our mark.......and hers? Oh, her mark was beautiful.

Rest in peace

Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011)

The Sweetest Thing

The sweetest thing I've ever known is not the kiss on the collar bone...but close. Can you recall a time when you saw an elderly couple holding hands? Usually the man is walking on the outside part of the sidewalk as to keep his sweetheart safer on the inside. Sometimes he may even be holding a bag or her jacket for her. Their stride is slow and in sync,and they walk close together. Even if you don't necessarily see them smiling with their lips, you see them smiling with their eyes. So beautiful and incredibly sweet isn't it? I mean, what goes through my head first and foremost whenever I see this is "Wow! What kind of incredible,consuming, long-lasting love must these two people have?'. Can you imagine all the stories, all the life experiences, all the ups and downs they must have gone through together? Then to be here, right here and now, at this point in life still holding onto that love the way that they are? Going for walks, and holding each others hands, not because it's a status thing, not because they are trying to prove a point to themselves or anyone around them, and not because 'it's just what people do'. That couple is doing it because they LOVE each other! I mean truly LOVE each other! LOVE! Yeah, remember that word? Lol.... Myself? Oh yes, I am definitely a hand-holder. In fact, that's one of my most favorite little things about being in a relationship. I love tradition. I love affection. I love romance. Perhaps that is why my heart melts oh-so much whenever I see an elderly couple holding hands like that - because I imagine the past they shared, I see their present right now, and well....at that age, and that kind of love, they're unbreakable. So please dear world, let's bring back the hand holding in full force so that our children and grandchildren will look at us like this one day, wishing they had what we have <3............oh yes, and one more thing guys, let's bring back the Gomez Addams kiss-on-the-hand-bit because..well....it's simply charming and wonderful!