Any Monty Python fans out there?

Hmm. Anyway, today I’m not posting a recipe. But before you start pulling out your hair in disappointment, I have a perfectly valid explanation. Besides, more recipes (um, awesome ones) are coming fast! But not as fast as I can kayak. No, not really. I almost never kayak.

Have you met Gayle from Pumpkin N’ Spice? If you haven’t, you need to visit her blog right now. Seriously, click away from mine and go to hers. Because that’s how much I heart her. Two of my favorite Gayle recipes are here and here.

Gayle and I have become blog friends. She’s kind, she invents totally original and amazing recipes (and varied ones, too!) and she has been a constant source of support for me. I love hearing about her life, her ideas, and we have a great theme week in development for all of you this coming holiday season! Stay tuned.

Anyhoo, Gayle super nicely nominated me to be part of the Writing Process Blog Tour. All that means is that I get to explain a little about my blogging to you and how it works and nominate fellow food bloggers to do the same. Here goes!

What am I working on now?

I think a better question is what am I NOT working on? Because I do 17 million things a week. But okay, I’ll play!

I’m trying to come up with original ideas constantly. It’s really hard but extremely rewarding. Just when I think I can’t make another miracle happen with peanut butter and chocolate, yet another idea comes along and I’m saved again. Because my all-time favorite thing is PB and chocolate. This PB Overload Ice Cream is one of my all-time favorites in that genre:

My blog needs constant attention. I want a better design, clearer pictures, more fancy bells and whistles. And gradually, my tech guy Kenny (a.k.a. my husband) is getting all that together. But being real, we both have full-time jobs and three small kids. While I’d love to get it all done faster, it’s just not a realistic expectation. So I’ll keep posting recipes I love, and I hope that’s better for now than a prettier aesthetic! Though this Butterscotch Cookie Cake is very pretty:

I’m a big fan of cookie cakes.

And while we’re nitpicking, I need to be better with social media. Honestly, I’m just not that into it, which is a horrible mindset for any blogger. I love connecting with people, but I can’t do it all day. I’m a teacher, which means I spend the whole day being interactive, and then I come home and do the same with my kids. When everyone is finally in bed, the only person I have the energy to interact with is my husband, who lets me melt down on a nightly basis.

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I should have named my blog The Lazy Baker. Because as it evolves, I realize that my recipes are geared toward people with no extra time, just like me. If you look through, you’ll notice that a majority of my recipes (even those that look complicated) involve minimal time and effort expenditure. Like this Strawberry Cream Pie:

It looks like it took forever. But it didn’t. Not at all!

In fact, I’m so taken with this unexpected turn on my blog that I’m feeling very driven to make more out of it. Why can’t busy people have homemade treats? They absolutely can. And I want to contribute to that! And maybe even eventually build a book around it. I’m outlining now!

Why do I write what I do?

Writing has always been comfortable for me, as is performing. I don’t mind putting it out there. Sure, I have some cringe-worthy moments (or years) to account for, but you only live once. Being afraid is just not an option. Though fear is sometimes healthy when it comes to eating raw cookie dough. Which is why these bars are a much safer option!

That’s right. It’s egg-free M & M cookie dough topped with fudge. No fear! Eat away!

How does my writing process work?

Sorry to be so annoying with this response, but I can sit down and write anytime. It just comes the second my fingers hit the keyboard or my pen scratches against a notebook. The hardest part of food blogging for me is the idea development itself for recipes. After that, the rest is cake. Or perfect soft-baked caramel cookie.

Speaking of which:

And now, onto my nominees! I’ve enjoyed these blogs for a while now, so it’s time to give shout-outs to…

1) Medha of Whisk and Shout. Medha is amazing. She develops recipes and her persistence is unmatched. Like with this vegan brownie recipe. Medha worked on it until it was perfect. And speaking as someone who tried the recipe, I can attest that it’s incredible. You’d never guess that it was vegan!

2) Ashley of Ashley Marie’s Kitchen. Ashley first won me over with these chocolate peanut butter cupcakes (check out the pretty piping!) and has continued to impress me with her  recipes. She does really fun things with Nutella, too. Her recipes are classy and beautifully presented.

And now that you’ve heard all about these ladies, you can check out their blogs and see what amazingness they have to offer!

Okay, Mir out for now. Stay tuned for a fabulous PB and chocolate recipe on the blog tomorrow! This time I definitely went too far. In a good way!