one of my MANY inspirations

This post is kind of random, but we broke down and got a new computer this week (another story for another day...) and that meant I had to transfer all of my pictures over.  During that process, I found some great pictures I took of my Grandma baking last year (Thanksgiving, I think).  I am super lucky to have had both a Mom and Grandma who were constantly in the kitchen and always let us kids help out if we wanted. 

I'm saving  a post on Mom until Christmas cookie time, but I couldn't resist sharing a few of these pictures of Grandma in the kitchen with a couple of her signature recipes - apple pie and of course, the sweet rolls she makes by hand for every holiday.  Oh, and the picture above is her making celery and gorgonzola dip, another holiday favorite - I know that's not a baked good, but I just loved that picture.

Grandma's obvious specialty is homemade pasta (specifically tortellinis), but my favorite thing to make with her are the sweet rolls that we have for Thanksgiving (perfect for leftover turkey sandwiches) and Christmas every year.  The recipe has a lot of steps, including letting the dough rise, which means lots of time to sit around and talk in between.  It's also fun to come up with all the different shapes, braids, twists, spirals - every year, it feels like a new recipe even though she has made it for decades (one time she showed me the recipe card that she still uses every time she makes them - I think the date on it was in the 1950s). 

Grandma is one of those people that likes to show her love through food - and every time she cooks for us, it definitely shows.  She used to always have homemade cookies in the house for Grandpa, and every time I came home from college, she sent me back with a care package of cookies, chicken broth, parmesan cheese and small shell pasta (the last three are probably my favorite meal ever!) 

She's also a little bit old-fashioned - she likes to do things the way she knows how, even if it takes longer.  It took us months to get her to use her Kitchen-Aid stand mixer.  But I won't argue with her - she's one of the best bakers I know.  And she makes the best apple pie I have ever had!


Grandma teaching me the steps to the perfect apple pie



The finished product... yum!

 And a few more pictures of my grandparents just because....