M.I.A...

So... if you haven't seen me lately, you're probably not the only one. I've been off chasing a dream, sort of. I've always wanted to enter a cooking or baking competition (call me crazy, but I really get into that kind of stuff). So, I was watching the Food Network and saw a show detailing the annual Pillsbury Bake-Off, and I thought to myself, "I could do that." So I got online a few weeks ago and got the information about the next one, it turned out that the deadline for submitting the recipes was on April 20th. So for the last month I've been getting down and dirty with my culinary side (and with the Doughboy, we've become quite good friends), coming up with recipes containing Pillsbury products. What I thought was going to be pretty easy, turned out to be alot more challenging than I anticipated. Coming up with a REALLY good recipe containing particular ingredients is harder than it sounds. But all in all, I probably tried over 30 experiments and came up with 7 recipes that were worth submitting, and 2 that I think are pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. Rob claims that I have fallen right into their trap: buying all of their products to carry out this ambition. And I say, "So what, would you spend $30 to try something that you've always wanted to? Whether it be sky diving, traveling or entering a baking competition - follow your dreams, you may never get another chance!" Rob wasn't really complaining, he's always my biggest supporter - and he doesn't mind being the taste-tester either.

When my creativity ran a little low, I enlisted help from some crafty, culinary experts: Chefs Amy and Chelsea. They always have good ideas. We came up with a pretty good recipe that day: Apple Streusel Shortcakes. Watch out for them... they, too, could be the next Food Network sensations.