Thanks to a fantastic response from our backers on Kickstarter, my new business Kerfluffles Marshmallows got off to a wonderful start. I so appreciate everyone who supported me with feedback and purchases. Now comes many weeks in the kitchen making handmade bites of fluffy goodness to fulfill all our backer pledges and the orders coming in on the web site. I can’t wait!

In honor of the months ahead, I thought it was a great time to blog about a recipe journal I made recently as a birthday gift. The front is titled appropriately: Ten Things I Love About Being In the Kitchen. The recipient is a dear friend who makes my world a gentler, more loving place, and who also shares my enthusiasm for cooking and baking.

The journal pages are each folded pockets containing blank, embellished recipe cards for her to add her own family favorites. I took a cue from the vintage-style printed cardstock and further aged the covers, pockets, and recipe cards by sanding the papers and staining the edges with chocolate-colored ink.

For me, time in the kitchen is much like time in the studio: creative, inspiring, and nurturing. Even when I am not alone — when there is a house full of guests and multiple conversations and dishes bubbling away — somehow the kitchen manages to be a place of quiet for me.

Maybe that’s one way to define love, when calm and joy exist regardless of circumstances. I do love being in the kitchen: the feathery softness of flour, the minuscule crunch of vanilla bean, watching a sauce thicken as it simmers. I love the details and the preparation, the sharing and smiles. Wishing you that same feeling today, in your kitchen and beyond. :)