I am a graduate student currently residing in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Before I tell you anything else, I need to set one thing straight: by no means am I a cook. In fact, I am embarrassed to admit how seldom I cook a proper meal for myself in which the main ingredient is not a bagel, a wrap, cereal or yogurt. Despite this, I do have a very heavy binder full of recipes I have printed off the internet, clipped out of magazines or newspapers, and copied from family and friends. I add to this binder occasionally, in the hopes that one day I will be inspired to enhance my culinary skills, or perhaps have a family to cook for that won't be impressed with the idea of eating bagels for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I do however, love to bake. So in the meantime, I'll stick with my trusty "Baking Binder", an assortment of recipes that reveal a fierce sweet tooth, a ridiculous obsession with peanut butter, and a 3-year long phase of baking (and eating) almost nothing but muffins. (My undergrad roommates may still be haunted with visions of muffins, "muffin rating charts" and the exclamation "they taste even better with peanut butter!") Since my cat, Griffon, doesn't delight in new muffin recipes as much as my former roommates, I have decided to share my baking trials and tribulations with you instead.Other random facts relating to my baking habits:
-I am not a chocoholic. Although I can appreciate a good fudge brownie as much as the next person, I generally prefer vanilla and fruit based desserts over chocolate (e.g. in ice cream, cakes, squares, etc.) so you may see a trend in this direction in my recipe collection. However, I'll make sure to throw some chocolate in the mix once in a while - just beware that the recipes "may contain peanuts." :)
-Despite what everyone says, oatmeal raisin cookies, cinnamon raisin bagels and raisin bran muffins beat the chocolate chip varieties any day! (I will, however, snack on a handful of chocolate chips on occasion. Or a few handfuls. I just prefer them on their own. They get in the way of most baked goods, in my opinion).
-Some of my other "culinary" inspirations come from my Jewish upbringing, such as the fact that I truly believe bagels deserve their own food group.
Ok, enough about me...time to get baking!
