Hmmm... Where to begin...
I am a stay at home momma to a 6 year old and twins 3 year olds. I am also the wife of a full time fireman/crop farmer in rural NW Ohio. My husband along with his father farm close to 700 acres of soybeans, wheat, and corn. Yes, he is a very busy man. Thankfully between he and my kids, they seem to like my baking/cooking. But then again, my husband will eat almost anything, and I mean anything!
I don't ever remember not liking to cook or bake. The house I grew up in was small and the kitchen even smaller, but no matter the size, a lot of good food was prepared in that kitchen. My favorite dish as a young child was probably my mothers chicken and dumplings. My mom is 1 of 9 children and her parents, my grandparents, lived with us until I was in high school. Our family gatherings were very large and a lot of good food was devoured! A LOT! I still remember a lot of the dishes that certain family members prepared for every gathering. My Aunt Sue always made the pies, her pie crusts were the best! We always had pounds and pounds of mashed potatoes and my grandparents always made homemade candies every winter. My father was 1 of 5 children, so those family gatherings were large as well. My favorite dish at every Rea gathering was always my Aunt Shirley's pies. They were so good, especially the chocolate cream. Of course, my grandma and grandpa Rea always had chocolate marshmallow cookies on the kitchen counter that us grand kids would sneak! Great memories...
Fast forward several years til today... I now have my own kitchen and am thankful that it is big enough to actually move around in. Nothing fancy, but it has everything I need to bake and prepare meals, some good, some not so good! My first Christmas as Mrs. Miller my in-laws got me my Kitchen Aid mixer. The greatest gift ever! That mixer has gotten quite a work out over the years, but has never let me down. Speaking of my in-laws, my mother-in-law makes the best sugar cookies in the entire world. The BEST! I always tell my oldest she better pay attention when her and grandma make them because mine have never turned out as yummy as hers and she needs to be able to carry on the tradition. My husbands grandma Cherry taught me how to freeze peaches and sweet corn. Something I will hopefully get to do every summer for years to come. I am very thankful for all of the lessons, information, and recipes that others have shared with me over the years. They are what has led me up to this point in my "messmaker" kitchen.
The intent of this blog isn't to lead you into thinking I am a master baker (which I'm not) or a profound chef (never), but more of a way to share my triumphs and severe failures in my kitchen. Also, I must let you know, I am not a professional photographer or even sort of a photographer, so please don't run and hide, never to return to my blog due to lack of great photographs. I am trying to work on this and hopefully as time goes on, my photographs will improve. I will also try to be as authentic as I can with this endeavor and not copy other blogs or websites to the best of my ability. If something on my blog looks similar to someone elses, well then lucky me I guess. I will definitely do my best to be original.
Thanks for stopping by and I look forward to your return!
Sincerely,
Vicki- The messmakerbaker
You will be blessed when you come and blessed when you go. Deuteronomy 28:6
