About The Ginger Snap Girl

Hello!  My name is Gloria and I'm 30 something.  I am married to my fabulous Hubby since 2002 and the mother of three kitty cats--Kit Kat (11), Chloe (11) and Oliver (1).  Hubs is from Chicago and I am born and raised in Southern California.  After testing out 3 different states, we have settled into sunny Southern California (for now) because quite frankly, I'm a wimp and can't take the Chicago 6 months of winter situation.  What can I say? I think if the temp drops below 60 it's officially COLD!  I maintain a corporate job by day where I work more hours than I would care to share. I keep balance by doing what I love by night, which is cooking and a lot of baking.

I come from a family that is slightly obsessed with food.  Obssessed in a good old fashioned simple comfort food kind of way.  When we get together it seems everything revolves around the food.  Who will make the onion dip and who will bring the chips?  I love onion dip by the way! Who will grill the carne asada and who will bring all the taco fixins?  And most importantly, how many people will make dessert and what kinds?  Because you can never have too much dessert!
I have always had a passion for food.  Especially eating it.  I didn't really take up cooking until after college when I was out on my own.  It was a long, slow painful journey to get to the point where my food didn't totally suck (just ask Hubby who had to endure my learning curve).  Turns out that watching Food Network doesn't make you a good cook.  Cooking makes you a good cook.  A lot of cooking.  And then more cooking. 

Baking comes a little more naturally to me.  I like the definitive ingredients and instructions.  It's reliable.  Like cooking, baking takes plenty of practice.  Though I've always felt that a little more at ease with a Kitchen Aid stand mixer than a frying pan.  And did I mention I love dessert?

I happily stumbled into the food blogging world quite by accident in early 2010. Even though I had seen the movie Julie and Julia, I really had no clue there was a world of food blogs hiding just a click away from a google search.  One day I was doing a google search to find a local tea house to enjoy a special afternoon with my best girl friend who was coming to town for a visit. I came across the blog, Tasting Spoons, where I found a wonderful write up of a nearby tea house. I bookmarked the page and enjoyed a great lunch with my friend. What I soon realized was Tasting Spoons had much more to offer than a write up of a local eatery. There were recipes. A lot of recipes. There were stories to accompany the recipes. And pictures to lure you in. And even more important…..links to other food blogs. I spent every evening for about a week and a half, scouring the internet jumping from one blog to another. It was exciting. It was fun. And most importantly, it was inspirational.

Could I do my own blog? Really? Yes! Why not? And so I did. I thought that no one other than my family would read it. I’m always surprised when a friend says, I saw that on your blog or I made this from your blog! For real? :)  That's pretty cool.

You may be wondering why I choose the name The Ginger Snap Girl.  Let me start off by saying choosing a blog name, especially when you don't what you're doing, is no easy task.  I wanted to focus on something that I have a passion for.  Cookies.  Cookies are my thing.  Every Christmas I do a massive cookie baking weekend and put together gift boxes filled with a variety of cookies for friends, family and co-workers.  I absolutely love it.  One of my staple cookies, even beyond Christmas, is a family recipe for ginger snaps.  It's my hand down favorite ginger snap recipe.  It produces a simple cookie that is oh so perfect--chewy in the middle, ever so slightly crunchy on the edges and just right in terms of spice factor.  In fact it is the cookie I'm most known for and the one that I get the most recipe requests for.  Though I love making chocolate chip cookies, and linzer cookies are a close runner up to the ginger snaps in popularity, there was just a nice ring to The Ginger Snap Girl and it seemed to fit. 

I hope my blog will inspire you to make something new, teach you a new tip or trick in the kitchen or just make you smile.

Random Fun Facts:

• My favorite kitchen tools are my assortment of scoops… I use them for cookies, muffins, cupcakes and occasionally for ice cream
• I have an ongoing love affair with my DVR and an obsession with reality TV
• I am always searching for a good book and when I get one in my hands, it’s next to impossible to pry it away
• I can water ski and snow ski
• I have lived in 10 cities and 3 states throughout my life
• I heart donuts…especially the chocolate glazed cake donut from Dunkin Donuts (I can decide if it's sad or lucky there are no Dunkin Donuts in So Cal)
• I love road trip vacations
• I adore spending time with my beautiful nieces and handsome nephews
• My favorite thing to bake is…..you guessed it…cookies!!!

Thanks for stopping by!