In my most recent novel, Irises to Ashes, there is a passage in Chapter Eighteen where the protagonist, Maggie, reflects on her inability to make biscuits or a good pie crust. While the book is not autobiographical per se, there are most assuredly a few things in my past that are reflected in the book. Actually, my inability to make biscuits from scratch or a decent pie crust is past, present, and future.

I cannot count the number of times that I watched my grandmother do biscuits and my first husband’s mother could turn out a pie with a crust that both looked and tasted as if a blue ribbon should be attached. I, however, have long been a fan of frozen or refrigerator crusts if I’m doing the filling myself, or quite frankly, just baking a frozen pie when time is tight. I have tried – honest I have. I have paid attention to cooking shows, and I am convinced that you either have the touch or you don’t. That is not to say that technique can’t be taught – I simply believe that some of us do better to admit our shortcomings and not subject people to continued attempts that produce mediocre results.

Not long ago I made the acquaintance of a lady named Debbie who has a small business specializing in desserts. She is understandably quite busy with the holiday season upon us, but once the holidays are over, I’m going to ask her to do a guest post with her wonderful background and maybe a sample recipe. In the meantime, happy baking to those of you who do well in that arena and Mrs. Smith and I will continue our relationship. Cookies, you say? Well, Toll House are drop cookies after all. Those, I can handle.