Greetings From A Rusty Old Lady

[Louspeachy]

Hi everyone! My name is Louise and I live in Houston, TX. I am 65 years old and have been retired from working 26 years in retail for almost two years now. I have several chronic autoimmune diseases and arthritis. I don't get around well anymore and have become quite bored being home so much after working with the public for such a long time. Sooooooo, last month I bought myself something I have wanted for about 50 years....a KITCHEN AID MIXER!

I must say that despite having been a pretty good cook/baker in my younger years, I was horrified to find how "rusty" I had become from so many years of seemingly, as a single mother, working and sleeping and little else. Despite getting remarried in 1999, I still did nothing but work and sleep. Since being "forced" to retire at 64, I have done little but "take it easy" with my only activity being attending church. So the expense of a beautiful mixer and attachments seemed less of a luxury and more of a necessity.

Anyhow, now I am a rusty old lady in more than one way. Many of my cooking/baking tools have vanished and gone to the same place socks go to while in the clothes dryer. For some crazy reason, I had accumulated dozens of yet unopened and unused cookbooks.

This has been a slow start for me. Though being slow physically, my baking skills are returning......SLOWLY. It takes a not quite right finished dish to prod my memory for solutions. It is slow going. I have tools I only dreamed of when I actively baked many years ago. I know I will get up to speed eventually but get a bit frustrated at times. So, I decided to join a baking forum for hints and encouragement.

Thanks for allowing me to be a member!

Louise

 

[Becky]

Hi Louise, welcome to Baking Forums! Mixers certainly take a lot of the hard work out of baking, and Kitchen Aid is a great brand. Nowadays there are lots of recipes to be found online so hopefully you won't miss your recipe books too much!

 

[Babble64]

Hi Louise! I can relate somewhat to being rusty...I've gone through stages like that myself. I remember saying one day, after I'd cooked two real meals two days in a row..."Hey, I CAN still cook!" I think patience with yourself is a great place to start. You don't have to use all those tools in the first day, or even the first week! And it seems to me as if you can laugh at the situation as well...what a blessing that will be! Welcome to the forum and many blessings on your endeavors. I sense the folks at your church are in for some real treats and you take off again on your cooking and baking!