A New Beginning and the First Blog Post
Updated: Aug 27
Welcome to the New Website
I am currently working on the website, getting all of the fiddly bits, bobs and widgets to work, or at least trying to. A few things aren't linking, even though they are supposed to attached. sigh
I am hoping to have everything fully functional by Friday, with the Fall Newsletter available for those who visit. I have run into a couple of snags along the way, and I am working on fixing them now, before they become monumental problems later. I have already learned the hard way what happens when you try to make a template work for someone with as many interests as I have.
So, while things are still being put together, I thought it was a good time to introduce myself and explain a little about what you will find here.
NEWSLETTER! Free to download! PDF Format a
nd a few recipes to try
I Am Many Things
I am an artist, an author and a food educator.
I know a lot of things too, although I will never claim to know everything.
I am a curious cook. I worked in kitchens in my youth, and baking became an early part of my career. Those experiences gave me a broad base of culinary and baking knowledge to experiment from, and I have been experimenting ever since.
I am also a natural artist who taught herself the techniques of the trade by watching others while working in the graphics world. I brought in customers, but we all did the work to get the projects out the door. That experience taught me timing, negotiating and, perhaps most importantly, pragmatism.
A short period of chasing journalism as a possible career taught me to ask the basic questions: who, what, when, where, why and how.
Well, didn't that just open a myriad of closed doors for me.
Asking questions, then applying what I learned, gave me more skills to draw on over time, no pun intended.
All of those experiences have followed me into what I do now. Cooking, baking, art, writing and even building a website may seem like very different things, but there are common thread running through all of them... creating something.
Curiosity helps.
As does paying attention, asking questions, learning from other people and being willing to try something again when the first attempt doesn't quite work.
For example, if you paint a base shade in watercolour and let it dry properly, you can increase the depth of a painting by adding a few gentle washes over it the next day. If you rush that second, third or fourth layer, as I have experienced on more than a few occasions, you can muddy the image, smudge the base colour and lose the look you were trying to create.
Food responds in a similar fashion.
Neglecting to brown a roast before putting it into a slow cooker can leave you with grey meat instead of that rich, golden-brown exterior. Skip the Maillard reaction and you also miss some of those deep, nutty flavours that make restaurant-style dishes so satisfying.
Different disciplines, similar lessons.
Sometimes you have to slow down, let things develop and give the process the time it needs.
A Mish Mash of Experiences
I am really a mish mash of experiences, hobbies and passions.
My writing has always been conversational, although I have been working toward a less conversational style when writing recipes. I am learning to use fewer words and fewer descriptive flourishes in my fiction too, allowing the reader to fill in some of the blanks rather than explaining everything myself.
My creative writing is being honed again as well. I am back to writing for pleasure instead of practical instruction.
Project manuals and operation binders were never particularly fun to create, although I have created plenty of them over the years. They served their purpose, but I am rather enjoying writing things that don't come with a procedure attached.
And then there is the website.
I am not a web designer, although I know enough to muddle through the web lingo and eventually get things to do my bidding. Usually. I'll figure this one out.
That part of the process may take a little longer while i search for links that have strayed off.
What You Will Find Here
This website is becoming a place where I can bring many of these interests together.
You will find recipes, cooking tips and techniques, ideas that have come from years of experimenting, and some of the lessons I have learned through both success and spectacular failure.
I will be bringing some of the older recipes and useful information from my blog over here, along with new recipes and ideas from my YouTube videos.
There will also be art, writing, creative projects and, with the Fall Newsletter, a quarterly collection of ideas for the coming season.
Some things will be practical.
Some will be creative.
Some may simply be something I found interesting and wanted to share.
Still Learning
I will never know everything.
I do, however, know enough to share what I have learned, and I am happy to keep learning along the way.
That is really what this new venture is about: taking the things I have learned through cooking, baking, painting, writing, experimenting and simply doing, and putting them all in one place.
The website is still being built, so please bear with me while I work out the last few details.
Hopefully, you will join me as I build this new venture.
There is quite a bit more to come.
Dawn McNaught, Artist, Author and Food Educator
Newsletter and things to look forward too.
Comments