Hey y’all! My name is Melody and as the Neeley family resident baker/sweets maven extraordinaire I would like to welcome you to my weekly column, Half Baked. I was the child that paid attention when Grandma Neeley scratched together a rue for the gravy while checking the exact consistency of the flour/lard ratio. I was also watching when Mema would let me help her (ever so gently) cut the dough for her famous biscuits. These times in the kitchen with my grandmothers were when I first learned to love baking. This love was only strengthened by years of watching my Marmy (my nickname for my mom) pull together a feast out of thin air and create dishes we all still beg her to recreate today.
It is true that necessity is the mother of invention and I would have it no other way. You will also see my playlists spattered here and there throughout the blog. I love music of every kind. It’s true… try me. If I could give a gift to people it would be the joy that I get from creating a new pastry, mixing up an old family recipe or just simply pulling a beautifully and lovingly prepared baked treasure out of my oven while dancing in my kitchen to the tunes that fit my baking mood. I would also arm you with the knowledge and confidence that ANYONE can bake as long as you can read a recipe and accept the fact that things will fall, you will accidentally add baking soda instead of baking powder and the buttercream frosting may not yield a perfect rose bud the first, second or fifth time. Accept this as a party of the journey and enjoy the time that you can in the kitchen and remember…
“Cooking is like love…
It should be entered into with abandon or not at all.”
-Harriet Van Horne
About Melody
Hey y’all! My name is Melody and as the Neeley family resident baker/sweets maven extraordinaire I would like to welcome you to my weekly column, Half Baked. I was the child that paid attention when Grandma Neeley scratched together a rue for the gravy while checking the exact consistency of the flour/lard ratio. I was also watching when Mema would let me help her (ever so gently) cut the dough for her famous biscuits. These times in the kitchen with my grandmothers were when I first learned to love baking. This love was only strengthened by years of watching my Marmy (my nickname for my mom) pull together a feast out of thin air and create dishes we all still beg her to recreate today.
It is true that necessity is the mother of invention and I would have it no other way. You will also see my playlists spattered here and there throughout the blog. I love music of every kind. It’s true… try me. If I could give a gift to people it would be the joy that I get from creating a new pastry, mixing up an old family recipe or just simply pulling a beautifully and lovingly prepared baked treasure out of my oven while dancing in my kitchen to the tunes that fit my baking mood. I would also arm you with the knowledge and confidence that ANYONE can bake as long as you can read a recipe and accept the fact that things will fall, you will accidentally add baking soda instead of baking powder and the buttercream frosting may not yield a perfect rose bud the first, second or fifth time. Accept this as a party of the journey and enjoy the time that you can in the kitchen and remember…
“Cooking is like love…
It should be entered into with abandon or not at all.”
-Harriet Van Horne