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Welcome

Welcome to Alphabet Soup! I'm Katy, the creator and author of this blog. I started blogging in November 2008. What started out as a way to chronicle my family's adventures as we attempted to get my oldest child to try new foods soon morphed into something else. I quickly discovered how much I liked writing about food, finding new things to cook, taking pictures of ingredients and the finished products, and everything that goes into running a blog. 

I am a 40-something Texas native, with an MBA and a background in dance. They don't quite go together, I agree, but I like to be different! I am a super proud mama to three wonderful boys -- Munchkin (18), Sprout (12) and the Squirt (10). I love my crazy life, even if it is a little...well...crazy!

I haven't been very active on the blog in the last few years, to be perfectly honest, but I've always wanted to keep the blog in place, even if only for myself. However, I have recently realized how much this blog means to me. With everything that I do for others, this is something that is mine. Something that I do for myself. But at the same time, I am also doing this for others as well. I love sharing food. I have always preferred cooking for others, over cooking for just myself. I enjoy bringing smiles to other people's faces. I like making my taste testers happy! This blog is a work-in-progress. Even though this blog has existed for some time now, I'm still finding myself as a writer. And I'm still learning how everything works - things have changed since I first started!

The kitchen has always been one of my favorite places to be. I started cooking at a young age, and it's all Mr. Rogers fault! My grandparents kept me while my parents were are work, and I always watched Mr. Rogers on PBS. One day, he visited a bakery and I was mesmerized. I asked my grandmother if we could bake bread. She pulled out an old, worn bread baking book and the rest is history! The first thing we made was cinnamon raisin bread and I fell in love with the process. I still, to this day, prefer making bread the "old-fashioned" way, mixing and kneading by hand.

At home, my mother and I made a deal as I got older and wanted to cook more things. I would cook. She would clean up after me! It worked so well. She's not that fond of cooking, and I can't stand cleaning up! Poor mom though...I can make some big messes... Some days, I want my mom to move in with us and strike up a similar bargain! I'm still holding out for the invention of the self-cleaning kitchen.

Now, before you go getting the wrong idea here, I am no domestic goddess. I don't put a three course meal on the table each night, and most of what I cook certainly isn't fancy. I'm from small town West Texas, and my palate is far from sophisticated. We (unfortunately) eat our fair share of takeout, but we're working on changing that more and more.

But I'm here to share recipes and experiences with you, to talk about food, family and life, and I hope you pull up a chair, grab a cup of coffee, and share with me! I welcome comments and questions. Please feel free to leave comments on my blog or email me if you'd like at alphabet.soup at live dot com.

Enjoy! :)

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