* Welcome!
* I started a blog in early 2003 mainly because a friend of mine had started one and I thought it would be kind of a fun thing to do. It is. And continues to be.
* I've got parents, a sister, a husband, two kids, and friends. There are also 3 cats, one lizard, and an assortment of fish living in our house. I have no idea where they came from.
* I've been cooking, or helping cook, since I was a little girl and made elaborate 10-course meals for family using just my dark olive Easy Bake Oven and the tiny pan that came with it. My Beef Wellington was particularly memorable. Okay, I made that up. But I do remember being very small and making little tarts with scraps of pie dough my mother handed to me. And I think I was actually dissatisfied with the Easy Bake Oven. It was just way too small.
* I've also been taking pictures (though not always with any great skill) since I was very little. My father, a professional photographer, gave me a little instamatic camera (the kind that took those flash cubes, remember them?) and taught me how to use it. I promptly went outside (he went downstairs to work in the darkroom), shot the whole roll of film in 3.47 seconds (trees, the neighbor's boat, our dog, my toys), came back inside, stood at the top of the basement stairs and called down to him "Now what?" He stuck his head out of the darkroom and looked at me in disbelief. "You're done already?" I went through a lot of film. Thank goodness digital came along and I don't have to take out a third mortgage to pay for my out of control photography habit.
* And I've been writing - stories, in diaries, letters (Back before email. Or computers.) and so on - since, I don't know, since I could hold a pen and scribble. Speaking of scribbling...I was always a very good, obedient, studious child, so there were never parent-teacher conferences about me causing trouble or having trouble coloring inside the lines. In third grade, however, my teacher, Mrs. Cressy, had to have a talk with my parents about my horrible handwriting. I was unable to write on the line. My loopy cursive meandered up and down between the two lines, lazily bouncing off the top line and floating down, down, until it hit the bottom line, bounced again, and headed up again. Learning to type in high school was THE best skill I ever acquired.
* And I used to draw and paint a lot, but not so much now, although my kids are always impressed with my ability to draw animals that actually look like the animals they're supposed to.
* So all those little bits and pieces add up to this blog. Sometimes I write about food, sometimes about my family, sometimes about our garden, or the animals, or whatever else is going on around here.
* I've been doing this blog thing a while now, and the biggest thing I still don't get is people who show up just to say something mean. I haven't had too many of those; I don't think I say or do too many things to draw out the snarly folk, but it never fails to puzzle me when it does happen.
* I hope you enjoy your visit here, and I really hope you'll come back again.
* If you'd like to, you can email me here: jayne (at) barefootkitchenwitch (dot) com.
* I reserve the right to publish your email for any reason that pops into my head at the time. I doubt I'll really do this, but I say this to warn the snarly folk.
* Please do not copy my words or images without written consent. I don't mind sharing; I just don't like someone taking my stuff without me knowing about it.
* If you have a question about a recipe or anything, I promise to back to you as soon as possible.
* It's my blog, and I'll change things up if I want to. It's like a home. If I want to paint the walls the color of burnt sugar, then that's my choice. If you don't like the color, that's fine, but please don't just march in here with only critical things to say. Would you really walk up to a total stranger and tell them you don't like their haircut or their boots or something? I didn't think so. (Again, this is primarly directed at the snarly people.)
* Be polite, and no hitting, or you'll have to go to your room.
Thanks for stopping by!
