I was trying to make some peanut butter cookies for my little sister because she wanted something sweet.

It was a Tuesday evening and the kitchen held few ingredients. Basically, it contained only some peanut butter, jelly and bread to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. My sister insisted she wanted some cookies instead of a sandwich, so I thought about it and took a shot at trying to make them.

My mother was studying for school and I was careful not to bother her. So I called my grandmother to ask her for her help. She gave me the run down of all the ingredients I would need. I wrote everything down and begin to follow the step-by-step instructions she gave me, or at least I thought I did.

Well…the first batch didn't make it; in fact it was disastrously overcooked. The smell of burnt cookie dough traveled through the house and alarmed my mother. She frantically rushed in the kitchen and schooled me about attempting to cook without her supervision. She exclaimed that I “could have burned the house down”.

After she calmed down, she was very forgiving and helped me throw out the burnt batch. We cleaned up the kitchen and she showed me the correct way to bake cookies. There I sat with my mother and sister in front of the hot oven watching the cookies as they baked using my grandmothers’ recipe. We took them out right when they were golden brown to let them cool on the cookie sheet; making sure they would soft and chewy just the way my sister likes them.

In my memory, those would have to be the best cookies I have ever eaten, mostly because they were filled with love more than anything. My grandma is no longer here with us, but the lessons she taught me of southern-style of cooking is something I hold close to my heart.

It’s what I draw upon in everything I do at eleven O eight Catering. She taught me that about cooking “from your soul, no matter what you’re preparing – put a little love in baby and it's going to be special no matter what you’re preparing”. I have taken that valuable lesson and have always incorporated love and soul in my cooking.