Thanks Mom!

Happy Mother's Day, mom! I just wanted to say thank you for being such a great cook and baker while I was growing up (not that you've stopped since then, but you get what I mean) and for giving me the tools and inclination to pursue cooking now that I have my own kitchen so many miles away.

It wasn't until I reached college that I found out how unusual it was for people my age to have grown up with parents who cooked most meals at home and sat down to dinner each night. I took it for granted that everyone knew how to boil pasta, chop an onion, and roll out cookie dough (not to mention doing laundry and cleaning one's room!). Boy was going off to a small liberal arts school on the east coast quite the wake up call! I can't even count the number of times I helped out housemates who were perplexed by a box of mac and cheese or a roll of premade cookie dough.

Now that I'm all of 25 I think I can safely say that knowing how to cook, eat right, and take care of myself is more important (and perhaps scarcer) than having a college degree. So thanks Mom! You taught me so much more than any of my professors, with or without a PhD!