There’s Cooking and There’s Baking by Kaye George
I know Sarah Blair doesn’t like to cook, but I’m not sure about baking. I’d guess that’s a no to that domestic art also. I’m totally with her on the cooking. But, for some reason, I’ve always loved to bake. My start was Home Ec in junior high school. I hope kids still learn to cook in school, but I’m not sure. It was strictly gender divided when I was there, in the immediate Post Dinosaur Age. Boys took shop and girls took sewing and cooking. And baking. I know I would have loved shop! I eventually did take an auto mechanics course, but the way I learned to tune up an engine won’t work on computerized cars, alas.
Tally Holt, the sleuth in the Vintage Sweets cozy series, is a bit like me. She loves to bake, too. And to make candy. Luckily for her, she inherited a recipe box from her beloved grandmother, whose hobby was recreating her favorite treats in her own kitchen. She found recipes for Twinkies, Whoopie Pies, and even Clark Bars, as well as Mary Janes, chocolate-covered caramels, mint fudge, and other goodies.
When her best friend from childhood, Yolanda Bella, told her there was an empty shop next to her own Bella’s Baskets, Tally decides to come back home to Fredericksburg Texas and go into business with those precious recipes. Things are going along pretty well when she hits a snag. The snag is in the form of a dead body in her kitchen. Even worse, Yolanda is the main suspect.
That’s the first book, REVENGE IS SWEET. Tally perseveres and get through two more 
books, selling sweets all along the way, through DEADLY SWEET TOOTH and now, March 9th, INTO THE SWEET HEREAFTER. She is comforted along the way by her wise Maine coon cat, Nigel, who—sort of—offers her council and reassures her that things will be okay.
Back to the topic of cooking versus baking, though. I’m sure that a big reason I love to bake is because I love to eat the product. I do like making candy, too, and for the same reason.
Do you prefer cooking or baking? Or both or none?
Thanks for having me here today, Debra! Being featured here brightens this rainy day in TN.
Raining here today, but spending time with you always brings the sunshine out…. especially if there is a baked sweet treat involved (even if I’m only reading it)
I love to cook and bake. When we were first married, I treated my hubby like a Greek God, a burnt offering at every meal. . . I’ve since learned to cook and bake and I like to think I’m good at both.
Loved this post.
Loved your humor of the Greek God and burnt offering. 37 years later, I’m still putting the stove on fire.
I love the burnt offering imagery, too. Glad things progressed for you!