Kitchen overachiever.....

I am a kitchen overachiever....... I started my interest in cooking when I discovered that I could give my parents an anniversary gift by cooking them dinner and get them to pay for everything!

Now, I say this but I think the seeds were really sowed much earlier than this given that the menu I chose for my first solo endeavor included steak, homemade crescent rolls and a black forest cake from scratch that involved soaking cherries in kirsch (what 11 year old knows what kirsch is!?!? I definitely needed help purchasing that!) My mother is not really into cooking. In fact, my dad has been the primarily chef in my parents house since about 1990. She likes to say "I cooked the first 25 years, now it is your father's turn!" And turns out, my dad actually likes to cook and grill and smoke meat. He cooks dinner every night. I do remember, or rather, there are pictures of my mom and I making cookies when I was young and I had the hugest smile on my face.

But honestly, I think I get my love of cooking from my grandmother, my mother's mother. I was lucky enough to live 5 minutes drive from my maternal grandparents for the first 17-18 years of my life. It was the greatest! There is nothing like grandparents! Every holiday we would go to my grandparents for dinner where my grandmother would cook this huge feast. I have managed over the years to keep a couple of her recipes going and come with a number of originals and favorites of my own but over the years cooking has truly become my creative outlet.

I have learned over the years that this interest is not quite typical. I actually like grocery shopping! Sometimes I get inspired by an unusual ingredient that I find in the farmer's market... It really is one of my passions.

So, when my parents told me that we were going to go to a friend of theirs for easter dinner this year and that I needed to contribute a side or dessert or something, of course I couldn't decide.... So being the overachiever that I am, I made 2 sides and 2 desserts! (and my mom made my grandmother's famous Monkey Bread and some cookies.) It was quite a spread and all were fat and happy!

Here is a look at my desserts, Lemon Pound Cake with Strawberries and Cherry Amaretto Cheesecake (an RDP original!)