It was almost 7:00 AM when I remembered the little bag with pink tissue paper that was waiting for me in my living room. In a sleepy daze the night before, I had decided to set it aside until the morning.

Although I was concerned about being late to field hockey and being unable to start my car for the second morning in a row, I couldn’t wait any longer to see what was waiting for me in that little pink package.

I knew it was from Margo — a woman I had worked for at my dad’s office this summer. We really hit it off, talking about shopping, sports and her daughter, who is only a little younger than I am. We both enjoyed these conversations, but what we really loved talking about was food.

Since I can remember, my dad has been bringing home a variety of delicious home cooked meals from Margo. As a girl who spends 70% of her free time watching Food Network, let’s just say I couldn’t wait to hear her recipe secrets.

She told me to look for the old classics, like Julia Child’s cookbooks or older Martha Stewart cookbooks. She also told me to look in the town library for really old cookbooks and then make photocopies of the recipes. She said some of the new stars you see on Food Network are more celebrities than chefs; although, we both had a special liking for Ina Garten and Paula Deen (probably because of all the butter).

So as I sat on the floor unwrapping what was inside my beautiful package, I was overjoyed to find a beautiful Martha Stewart’s pies and tarts cookbook and a brand new jar of Biscoff.

I had never tried this type of spread before, but Margo had raved about it. It’s similar to the consistency of peanut butter but is made from Biscoff cookies, and I can tell you right now that it is delicious. I highly recommend it on toast, but it’s best just with a spoon.

So here I sit after field hockey,  my slightly superstitious self knowing that my wonderful present was the perfect sign to start this blog. And because I am one of the few people in Wayland with power in the wake of Hurricane Irene, I feel it’s necessary to use my oven and start making some of the recipes in my new cookbook.

Ellen Barber, who will be writing this blog with me on alternating weeks, and I are both so excited to see how this blog turns out. I don’t even think we know what we want it to be yet; we just want to share our recipes and techniques and talk about baking and cooking.

Please share any ideas or comments you have, and please ask questions! Don’t hesitate to request that we make a specific recipe or share what you know about baking or cooking.