i'm back...sorry about that!

I know... September was pretty much a write off for blog entries... my hard drive died on me (a million sighs to be heard that day... and a few tears were shed). I dealt with that little crisis and then decided to cook my woes away…

So although the oven was turned on, it wasn't used for baking. Rather, I succeeded in roasting my very first WHOLE CHICKEN!!!! Whoot! I know what you're thinking - how can Lynne NOT have already roasted a chicken. Well... I always bought chicken breast, always afraid of that entire bird. But I finally decided to bite the bullet: I bought a bird and roasted it. Then I made my very first chicken stock - and created a pretty awesome chicken vegetable soup (dinner tonight - perfect after my bike ride in the cold). I also roasted my very first pork tenderloin... butterflied it, stuffed it and roasted it. A combination of panko crumbs, apples and mushrooms formed my stuffing - another first (I'd never made a stuffing before either). So September was great for experimenting with roasting.

This leads me to now. I've decided that October will be a full-tilt baking extravaganza! I've been reading a fictional novel that has a sprinkling of recipes (the protagonist is a former pastry chef)... So I've decided to bake all the recipes in the book... from sticky buns, soufflés, pies and cakes... PLUS I've decided to use all those root veggies that are in season and turn them into sweet little treats - zucchinis, parsnips, carrots and beets blended with chocolate, butter and cream. Overall, I am super excited to start baking.

I promise this month will be full of mouth-watering delights... beginning with sticky chocolate fudge pecan brownies (recipe to follow). Seriously - sorry for the delay, but the sabbatical was worth it (I promise).

Stay tuned - and fingers crossed I'm able to add some pictures as well ;0)

Thanks friends for sticking with me. It's great to be back!