About Me/Contact Me

Please feel free to contact me anytime at: hillshelly@yahoo.com

Growing up in a home with a father that never cooked a meal, I assumed when I got married, that one of my many jobs was to cook.  I can't say I had a lot of prior experience, unless you count the college days of tuna fish salad and chicken noodle casserole or deep fat fried french fries and homemade fry sauce!  So, the first year of marriage, seeking to impress this new husband of mine, I spent a lot of time on the phone, "Mom, how do you make.....?"

The years went by and my love of cooking (and eating) grew. I found I loved browsing through cookbooks and cooking magazines, salivating over the scrumptious pictures.  Whenever I saw a picture I just had to eat, I bought the cookbook or the magazine.  Then, came the internet!  And added to my cookbook cupboard (yes, I have an entire designated cupboard), became printed pages of recipes from the web with notes scribbled all over them of things I loved, or things I would change next time.  

More years went by and everytime I opened the recipe cupboard I got a little overwhelmed at where to start!  Which book should I look in and what should I do with all these sheaves of paper I've accumulated?  So, I would just shut the cupboard and go find a new recipe!  I rarely make the same recipe twice, unless it's an all-time, hands down favorite.  There are just too many good things to try!  And what if there is a better recipe out there?  Thus began my quest for great recipes!

18 years and five kids later, I've learned a few things about myself:

• I think that the season of winter should only last one month...the month of December.
• I'd rather mow the lawn than clean the kitchen.
• I love tupperware containers.
• I color code the shirts in my closet, but not my husbands!  
• I love flowers.  All kinds.  I love planting them.  But if I don't have automatic sprinklers, they would all die!  
• I HATE bees.  I run when I see one.
• I think strangers are just friends you haven't gotten to know yet.
• I love animals, as long as they are tied to a leash and I don't have to touch them. 
• I love babies.  If you have one and ever need a babysitter, I happily volunteer!
• The perfect day is a clean house, good music playing, sunlight streaming through the windows, the smell of yummy food, smiling kids and great friends coming over for dinner!
• I love summer evenings.  I love sitting on my porch to eat my dinner while watching the kids ride bikes in the neighborhood.
• I love long walks.  I love the ocean.  I love bike rides.  I think we were born bare foot for a reason.  
• I can't walk in high heels.
• I'm an eternal optimist, except on the days I feel like being pessimistic.  
• I'm very accident prone and I do things on a whim.
• I love spoiling my kids, except for when they start to think they aren't spoiled enough.
• I love buying new swimsuits, but I rarely get in the pool except to cool off.
• I love clorox wipes, windex and paper towels.
• I love gain laundry detergent.  It smells heavenly.
• I love great quotes.  
• I love fireplaces and the smell of cinnamon and cloves.  
• I hate the noise of TV.
• I love to laugh and I must love to cry, because I do my fair share of that too!
• I believe each day is a new day, so make it be what you want it to be!

Here's to spending the rest of my life learning even more and embracing whatever comes my way!