Karen's Kitchen

You could say that Karen’s Kitchen opened years ago, early on school days with the aroma of freshly-made pumpkin muffins baking for my three children. The pumpkin muffins are still a staple at breakfast time, to this day.

The kids are funny. My daughter is always looking at recipes and on the prowl for something new and delicious to try out. My middle son has put it out there that one of his career back up plans is to become a Chef. He has true patience in the kitchen and is the only one who can come close to duplicating the daily breakfast muffin. My older son? Well, he's not really allowed in the kitchen (we hate to involve the fire department anymore) but he's the culprit every time there are missing breakfast muffins. One day, they enthusiastically decided I should open a bakery but I opened a Pilates Studio, which I guess is the antithesis of a bakery.

The Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake was something I just loved to eat. It's addictive and you really shouldn't be left alone with it. I only made it from time to time. But then it became a kind of pick me up. If I heard someone was going through a tough time, a Coffee Cake would appear on their front steps with a note. Eventually, it became a little famous for pick me ups and parties and was always a demand at the occasional Middle School breakfast.

Well, as they say, the proof is in the pudding, or in this case, the Chocolate Chip Cookies. When my oldest son began playing football, I baked the cookies for the team’s first pre-game dinner. For the next dinner, I had to double the recipe to keep up with demand. Walking through the school halls, my son would be asked, “Are you bringing the cookies to dinner tonight?” The answer had to be yes. Then came the time when one of the team members squirreled away a bag with some untouched cookies, intending to sell them at school the following day for $1 apiece. The first team member to see his offer, “Don’t sell them - I’ll give you $20 for the bag!” And these guys haven't even tasted the Brownies yet!

Maybe that was the push. A High Schooler trying to profit from my baking which makes me laugh to this day. So on a Sunday evening in the middle of December Karen’s Kitchen finally opened for business selling Christmas cakes. It began with a Facebook post and a little hope and turned into something I never expected. I find baking cathartic and the results even more so. The kitchen is usually buzzing with action. Clouds of flour puffing out of the mixer, screams of bad calls at the Refs during a Jets game or music pumping out of the speakers is a regular scene. Your items were made with the care, love and enthusiasm we hope you can visualize. I, and my children, hope the joy our baked goods bring into your home matches the joy I’ve had in baking them for you.