Time in my kitchen

I love, love, love to spend time in my kitchen.  My love language is acts of service and to me, there is no better way to show love than make a person a baked good.  My mother and sister laugh at the amount of stuff that I bake.  They always joke about how I'll have homemade cookies everyday once I have children.   Just to give you an idea of how much I bake- I baked 25 chocolate meringue pies and 4 pound cakes over a 2 week period at Christmas.  And I loved almost every minute of it.

For the past few weeks, I haven't had the time nor the energy to spend in the kitchen.  Drew has handled a lot of our dinners (thankfully).  When I've gotten home from work, I've just collapsed on the couch.

Our church is hosting a big BBQ and Bake Sale tomorrow afternoon.  They've hosted this for the past 2 years and the proceeds go to our Food Pantry.  It raises a good amount of money- over the past 2 years, they've given almost $6,000 to the Food Pantry from the profit.

Earlier this week I committed to make 2 chocolate pies and an iced pound cake for the bake sale.  With today being a snow day, it was the perfect time to spend some time in the kitchen.  Drew and I ventured out mid-afternoon to pick a few items I needed and then upon returning home I got straight to work (well, after my nap).

Drew lets me do my thing in the kitchen- he doesn't interrupt because he knows I have to focus.  I spent several hours in the kitchen this afternoon.  First I worked on the pies.  We stopped for dinner and then I started the poundcake.

Before the meringue...

After....

I love the process of baking.  I love that it makes me slow down. You have to take it step by step.  It allows me time to reflect, time to ponder, and time to be thankful.  Today, I was thankful for the fact that we still had power.  So many people in our area are without power (my sister and brother-in-law are among the many without).

As I baked, I reflected on my Grandma Jeannie- a woman that knew her way around a kitchen.  When I think of her, I think of sitting on the stool in her kitchen.  She would be at the stove and I would be just a few feet away watching her every move.  She is the one who shared her love of cooking with me. Whenever family came in to visit her, she always had a stocked fridge.  She loved people with food.  Grandma Jeannie knew what you liked and what you didn't like- and she made sure she had exactly what you wanted.  There's no telling how many caramel cakes she made in her lifetime.

I am pretty sure this picture was taken Christmas of my junior year in high school (2001).

I thank God for my sweet Grandma Jeannie and for the lessons she taught me about love and hospitality.  I'm thankful for the 21 years that I was able to spend with her on this earth and I know that one day I will be reunited with her in Heaven.

One of her many notes she wrote me...