Sistah Girl Desserts may have started with an apple pie, but my love of
cooking goes farther
back than that. As a self proclaimed chef, I am always trying new recipes and I take enormous
pride in the recipes I create. My kids used to say that when they were young they always felt
like they were eating gourmet meals at our evening dinners. But to me, it was my way of
introducing them to different tastes. I was always taught to be prepared to eat anything if
you were a guest of someone, so what better way to teach them graciousness then by
introducing them to different ethic cuisines.
My Mom was from Rhode Island, so we grew up eating baked beans, canned brown bread,
and coffee ice cream. My father, who was from South Carolina, introduced us to
okra, beans and rice. Rice was always on the stove and every Saturday he cooked beans.
One of his southern traditions was making Hoppin' John (black eyed peas and rice) on New
Year's Eve, which is supposed to bring you good luck in the coming new year. My parents
took pride in their culinary traditions, so growing up I learned to enjoy two different regional
cuisines which are still a part of my everyday diet. Plus my father was a military man, so we
traveled extensively during my childhood, eating different cultural foods. And because of
that, I learned to cook.
like they were eating gourmet meals at our evening dinners. But to me, it was my way of
introducing them to different tastes. I was always taught to be prepared to eat anything if
you were a guest of someone, so what better way to teach them graciousness then by
introducing them to different ethic cuisines.
My Mom was from Rhode Island, so we grew up eating baked beans, canned brown bread,
and coffee ice cream. My father, who was from South Carolina, introduced us to
okra, beans and rice. Rice was always on the stove and every Saturday he cooked beans.
One of his southern traditions was making Hoppin' John (black eyed peas and rice) on New
Year's Eve, which is supposed to bring you good luck in the coming new year. My parents
took pride in their culinary traditions, so growing up I learned to enjoy two different regional
cuisines which are still a part of my everyday diet. Plus my father was a military man, so we
traveled extensively during my childhood, eating different cultural foods. And because of
that, I learned to cook.
In our family, if you were a young adult, unemployed and living with your parents, there
were two things you had to contribute to the house:
- One: The house had to be clean when they got home from work and
- Two: dinner better be ready or cooking.
At some point I was back living at home and the task of making the family evening meals became my responsibility. What was serendipitous, was that during that time, I had purchased a cooking encyclopedia from a traveling salesgirl, so I used that book and learned the art of cooking. I still refer to it from time to time. I call it my culinary bible.
After making some traditional meals, my Dad would say "surprise me." So family meals
became a culinary experiment, with me trying many recipes. I would always make something
different. And because of that, I refined my cooking and baking skills.
My father was very critical and if he didn't like something, he would let me know. I remember
this one time I made Yorkshire Pudding for dinner. I remember him looking at me
sardonically and telling me never to make that again. I had to agree, it was awful.
But errors like that have made me a better cook and I take pride in my cooking and take many chances when creating new recipes. And because of my love of cooking, Sistah Girl Desserts was, for me, a natural progression. It just took me some time to get here.
As always.......bake with love.
Barbara
Co-founder/Baker
