"Melinda, do NOT go near that skillet"

In an office, there are co-workers who help you, co-workers who make you mad, co-workers that are forgetful.

And there are co-workers who inspire you.

I’ve been reading Ivy Jackson’s blogs about the way cooking has brought back family memories.

So, as a self-proclaimed (and publicly confirmed) horrible cook, I decided to try to learn how to bake.

Reading Ivy’s blog reminded me of making banana bread when I was little with my mom, so I decided to make her recipe for my roommates the other week.

I didn’t have an electric mixer (why would I -- I don’t cook!), so combining all of the ingredients took a lot more work than I had expected.

I wasn’t sure if the banana bread had turned out all right, but my roommates confirmed my suspicions.

The two loaves were gone in three days.

My roommates brought some to their friends, and now they’re asking me to make more.

The next week, I asked my boyfriend’s mom to help me make his favorite dessert, cherry pie.

One flaky crust and four days later, the whole pie had disappeared.

Last night, we cooked dinner together. My boyfriend was in charge of the grill, and I was in charge of the dinner rolls.

My whole-wheat rolls took almost three hours to make, including rise time. His grilled tuna took two minutes to cook.

Although the tuna was excellent, I don’t think anything compared to warm, buttery rolls straight from the oven.

Who knew I had the capability to bake? I sure didn’t.

I’m glad that I can prepare some sort of food without threat of poisoning myself, but I think the best reward is seeing how appreciative my roommates are to have homemade baked goods around.

So thanks to Ivy, the “Paula Dean” of our office, for inspiring me to start my own baking traditions.

Photo from "The Lady and Sons" website.