New Things

I have been wanting to learn how to make kolaches for a long time now. Its something I wish I had learned from my Mom but did not get the chance. Kolaches have been a family favorite for all my 37 years and then some! I have a 4-day weekend coming up so I thought this would be as good a time as any to try. Today I spent some time going through cookbooks and my Mom's recipes to find the best kolache recipe. I even called Aunt Mona, who is one of Mom's sisters. We love her kolaches. She talked with me about it and found her recipe that she thinks she got from Aunt Janet, another sister, but has tweaked a bit. This is the recipe she has been using for quite a while now so she's making a copy and putting it in the mail to me tomorrow. I have been trying a lot of new things lately...recipes I have always said I'd make but never have. I made homemade lasagna Saturday night. It wasn't great but I think still better than Stouffer's. I made some notes so I'll try again because it really wasn't hard to whip up. Sunday morning I made Monkey Bread which I have been wanting to do for a long time but for whatever reason I hadn't. Did this morning & needs one small tweak--it needs to bake longer than the recipe says. We had some doughy biscuits in there....but the done stuff was awesome! I love to cook and I love to bake, I just sometimes need a little motivation. My kids are my motivation. I want them to have lots of great memories and want to come home to Mom's cooking when they're grown and have their own families. I want there to be a special dish or dishes that only Mom can make. My Mom had lots of things that I love and am learning how to make. I don't think they'll ever be Mom perfected but they are pretty darn close! My new goal is to learn how to make all the recipes I've always wanted to know how to make...and I want to be good at it, comfortable with them so that I'll continue to make them. Kolaches are first on my list!