Cooking up memories: The heart of Payne Acres Kitchen
My kitchen here at the home I call Payne Acres, where I have lived for several decades, is the heartbeat of my house.
It’s where my passion for cooking and baking has been wildly successful or has fallen like a loaf of bread that forgot to rise to the occasion. It’s not a huge space but its just right for me, with its thick slab Calacatta marble counters, double ovens and an ancient GE deishwasher that does the brand proud.
I never saw my mother in the kitchen. Ever. The best thing she ever made for dinner was reservations. Ba-dum-bum!
But I loved teaching myself and learning from others. Betty Crocker was my best friend when my kids were growing up. And now I have way too many cookbooks. Some favorites are A Man & His Kitchen; Pike Place Market Cookbook; KCTS Cooks; The Ark cookbook from Stanley Tucci’s Taste: My Life Through Food; ”all the Ina Garten deliciousness; and books by local chefs John Howie, Russell Lowell; Lisa Dupar, Tom Douglas; Tamara Murphy, Cynthia Nims; and the late Chef in the Hat Thierry Rautureau . The list goes on and on but the weirdest one might be Cooking Alaskan, by Alaskans, and includes jaw-dropping recipes for beer-braised snowshoe; and moose head soup.
Over time I will share endless recipes but for now, try this one: 3 cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, pinch of salt, and a 12 ounce bottle or can of any beer, dark or light. It makes no difference. I love using stout. Mix it all up and bake in a greased bread pan for 50 minutes or so at 350 degrees. When it comes out of the oven, pour a stick of melted butter all over the top of it.
And there you have it. A little love from Payne Acres kitchen.
Patti Payne
Meet the Author
I’m a viewer. An observer. A storyteller. A broadcaster. A writer. A regional “influencer,” they tell me.
Just call me “Positively Patti Payne,” a mom, a business woman, a longtime award-winning broadcaster, emcee, keynote speaker, commercial voice, columnist, consultant.
I am principal of my own public affairs/community relations business, The Payne Group: Communicating and Connecting.
I’m a zealot about animals, baking, culinary creating, gardening, quiet time, laughing, and life!
I was a professional musician who played drums and sang nightly on club stages in a jazz combo when my two daughters were growing up; and later in a jazz combo headed by Seattle Mariners chairman emeritus John Ellis.