Southern Shortbread: The Beginning

I've had a "regular" blog for a few years now...but I kind of let it slip away as I realized all of my five (and that's being nice...) readers probably really weren't all that interested in my ho-hum day-to-day life.   However, I started thinking about how often my friends typically ask me for a recipe...or to re-make a recipe...only to discover I have NO. CLUE. what meal they're talking about!  You see, I L.O.V.E. to cook and bake.  Being a single gal, that usually results in cooking for my friends.  Sometimes I follow a recipe, but most of the time I just kind of make stuff up...and it usually ends up pretty delicious!  But, then when I'm asked to make it again...or I WANT to make it again...I either don't remember making it in the first place, or totally forget what ingredients/spices I added to a dish.  SO, I plan to make this my attempt to document those meals that really jump out.  The one's you eat and it's melt-in-your-mouth goodness.  The one's you say "I have GOT to make that again!"  I'm a self-taught cook.  By no means do I have ANY professional training, but I DO have a Southern grandma who taught MY Momma how to cook...who in turn gave me my basic skills.  My grandma ("Mo") was one of the best cooks in their small little town.  Everyone LOVED Ms. Joy's cooking (and baking!) and she had a LOT of good recipes!  My Mom would always let me hang around the kitchen whenever she was cooking.  I enjoyed watching her cook.  As I got older, she began to let me help her.  Just small things at first.  Cook the pasta.  Stir the spaghetti sauce.  Cook the rice (sidenote: my first solo attempt at cooking rice was a DISASTER.  I quickly learned you actually have to put water in the rice steamer for it to uhhhh, cook.  I'm a genious.)  When I went off to college, I got a little more adventurous.  I started combining ways my Mom cooked the food with spices and changes that I thought of on my own.  Maybe Food Network contributed to my creativity in the kitchen...or maybe it was just in my genes.  Whatever it was, it's made for some pretty tasty meals in my adulthood!  Not to be vain, but my husband (whomever he may be!) is set to be a very happy man!

If you haven't figured it out, the name behind my food blog is a tribute to my Southern and Scottish heritage.  A tribute to my roots, per se.  My Southern grandma and my grandmother that was born in Scotland.  Not only did I grow up Southern, but I also grew up celebrating my Scottish heritage.  Every Christmas my Dad would make his mom's Scottish shortbread recipe...and it's the most amazing thing ever!  My heritage is rooted in cooking in more ways than one.  So, what better name for a food blog?? And I guess, in a way, it also forebodes what types of recipes will be on here.  I love baking AND cooking.  I love cooking traditional good 'ole Southern food, but also gourmet international food as well (French, Mediterranean, Moroccan...the list goes on!)...but I also love to whip up a made-from-scratch batch of cupcakes too!  Southern Shortbread is a mix of all things good...just like the recipes on this blog will be!

I hope this turns out to be beneficial.  That I can pass along some delicious recipes that you'll love as much as I do.  I guarantee you I make things that aren't anything to write home about...and those will be the things that do NOT make it onto the blog!  Ha!  I guess if my Mom ends up being my only reader, I'll at least have the recipes for my own reference!  Here goes!