This is my first blog post, and I don't really know what I'd have to say that others would care about, but I'm going to try to come up with something! ;-)
Almost 10 years ago, I lost my job as a certified technical trainer, and decided to do something that would make me happy and excited - and maybe even make a contribution to this crazy world we live in. I founded my baking business, Kathy's Just Desserts, Inc. - www.kathysjustdesserts.com.
Now, before I was a computer trainer, I was an elementary teacher. The one thing people who know me realize is how much I LOVE kids - whether it was my oldest friend's daughters - taking them out to give their Mom a break, or my "kids" at St. John the Baptist (4th grade) and St. Pat's (3rd grade - in my very own 3rd grade classroom there!), or my nieces and nephews (yeah, I mean YOU - Jeff, Chris, Allie, Ginny, and Katie), or the little ones in the pew ahead of me at church (smiling and winking at them to make them smile), I LOVE KIDS!
A few months into my business, I called my sister Mary - who's a marketing consultant. I asked her what she thought of me offering kids' cooking programs. She thought it was a great idea - kids love the Food network and parents don't have time to cook or teach their kids to cook. I thought about it, started planning programs, then started offering after-school programs, kids' candy making birthday parties, Scout workshops, summer camps, Ladies' Night Out events - programs for kids AND for adults - eventually renaming that segment of my business "Kitchen Wizards", where we help kids of all ages to discover the magic of cooking, one bite at a time!
Kitchen Wizards definitely brings a lot of joy to my life. You see, I was never blessed with marriage and children. When I was growing up, Mary and I would hang out with Mom in the kitchen. We learned to cook - learned to LOVE cooking, because Mom did. Doesn't every little girl want to be just like Mom? I always thought I'd grow up, have a bunch of kids, and teach them to cook. That didn't happen. But, I'm okay with it. If I'd have married, I WOULD have taught MY bunch of kids to cook and bake. NOW, I touch so many kids' lives. I've had parents send me photos of kids cooking recipes they learned in my programs for their families. That's so great! I'm stopped in supermarkets by people telling me that they still make the Buckeyes their kids learned in camp every Christmas. I'm known as the "Candy Lady" by many campers at MCDC, where I first started doing a candy making camp activity for their large day camp. But, my favorite times are when I'm standing with a group of kids around the kitchen counter, and they're listening intently to how a recipe is made, laughing at my silly jokes, proudly adding their knowledge, repeating the steps I've told them as they make a recipe with their group, delighting in eating what they've made, trying a new recipe, new food - learning that mustard really ISN'T that bad (after hearing my story about hating mustard as a kid), telling Mom they need to stop and buy artichokes on the way home because they're sooooo good!
As a 20-something elementary teacher, I never realized the impact I had on the children I taught. I was young and liked teaching, but never imagined they'd remember specific events from 3rd or 4th grade - not until I joined Facebook a few years ago. My "kids" are now grown, with families and careers of their own, and I love the newfound friendship I have with them - even if it is only online. It's so great to hear about their lives now.
Age brings maturity (one hopes), and I have an awareness now that I never had in my 20s. I know that these cookin' kids are going to have some of the memories I have of cooking with my Mom when I was a kid. I hope they have that memory with their own Mom - but I know they'll remember cooking with me! And that makes me very happy!!
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