Almost a Millionaire

            Yep, it’s that time of year, again.  Time for the Pillsubury Bake-Off.  And several folks who know I love to enter cook-offs, have asked if I’m going.  Nope.  Two years ago I was selected as one of the 100 finalists, and then just a few weeks before leaving for the big event, I was disqualified.  

            And here’s why: They want to keep it unprofessional.  Excuse me?  Who is less professional about their cooking than I am?  St. Bob even jokes that I should have a cooking show called, “Oh, It’ll Be Fine.”  I take imperfection quite seriously.  I have never had professional training, never worked as a chef, never been on the staff of a newspaper or magazine that prints recipes.  This is what they define as professional. 

            Apparently droves of home cooks who blog about cooking, who teach it in their homes, and who cater weddings on the side, are less professional than I am.  Which is hilarious.  I have won bunches of recipe contests and cook-offs, but so have most of their entrants.

             I had no idea I was joining the ranks of “food professionals” when a publisher approached me, years ago, and asked me to write a cookbook.  First rule of freelance writing: Never turn down work that falls into your lap, right?  But this one move made me ineligible to take my killer chocolate cookie recipe to the Bake-Off. 

            We’ll never know if I might have won, but I’ll tell you this.  It’s easy, it’s  gooey, it’s rich, and the world’s cardiologists are being deprived untold numbers of cholesterol patients who might otherwise have eaten my cookie. Thanks a lot, Pillsbury.

Fear not, you can go where Pillsbury feared to tread-- namely to my rescue, and buy my books!  The three most recent novels are Jungle, Pinholes into Heaven, and Sisters in the Mix.  All are available in hard copies at Createspace and on Kindle at Amazon.  Adventure, literary, and humor-- something for everyone!