Next time, two loaves

I tried a new seven-grain recipe for bread today -- one I kind of made up based on about a half dozen other recipes. I made one loaf that turned out to be HUMONGOUS. Next time, I'll make two smaller loaves.

For many people, recipes are carefully guarded secrets, but an elderly woman I knew years ago encouraged me to be bold and try new things and then shared some of her secrets with me. It made me a lot more adventurous.

Mike once said of my original seven-grain bread recipe, "the only thing wrong with this is that it isn't at my house."

Mike used to love to experiment. In Janet's final year at SCAD, she had an assignment to design a menu. So, Mike and I got to write the memu, and we've taken some of the items we created and used them. We made grilled pork loin with a chipotle-apple glaze. Very yummy.

Guessing is how I came up with my family favorite spice cake. I just threw it togeter and it was better than my mother's. I'll often find three or four recipes for the same thing and take what I like frm each one.

But Mike was the great experimentor. If he hadn't died, he would have become a great chef.