Happy Holidays from Us to You!

Every Fall I begin to think of small gifts I could give family and friends for the holidays. Over the years I've given gifts of cookies, candies, poinsettias, bottles of wine, ornaments and more, but I've always been dissatisfied because it never seemed to be personal enough. One gift I've always wanted to give was a personal recipe book of all my favorite recipes that either I enjoy making or my family and friends enjoy eating. The glitch has always been the cost associated with printing, binding and mailing the books.  I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner, but this year I put my plan into action and created The Broken Oven -- a food blog to share with my family and friends. This is our holiday gift from our family to you!

The Broken Oven is filled with nearly 50 recipes I've received from family and friends throughout the years, as well as recipes I've found from the masters, but have adapted to work for my skill level, ingredients availability or my family's picky palate. Each recipe includes a photo of the completed dish I took in my home studio which is also known as the window seat in my kitchen. The Feasting Photos Section includes a few photos of people --okay mostly my kids-- enjoying some of the food prepared for this blog project.  They're cute kids so check it out!

You're also probably wondering why the blog is named The Broken Oven. Most of my adult life I've cooked in an oven that is broken one way or another. Whether it's a burnt out oven light, a quirky oven door that doesn't quite shut, a missing knob, a broken burner or like my current oven where it takes 30 minutes or more to heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Even though I've been oven challenged most of my cooking career the food has always been good -- or so I've been told.

Feel free to make comments whether it's just a hello or a suggestion on how to make the recipe even better. I'm going to attempt to maintain this blog and add new recipe when the mood hits and time allows. Check back often or follow me on Twitter or Facebook for updates.

I truly hope you enjoy this blog as much as I enjoyed putting it together. Now...GO EAT!