Home At Last! with Patty Gironda

    Still feeling a little under the weather, there doesn't seem to be much need for elaborate meals and long days of cooking! Instead, I have used my time this weekend to celebrate Easter with small projects . . . making bread, a sophisticated Peach and Almond Upside Down Cake and planting topiaries for the house. I soaked some early peaches in sugar and a dessert wine from Carlo Basso. Blanched almonds were added to the sugar mixture before adding the soaked peaches to the cast iron skillet! The results: a light, crunchy texture that made a delightful cake! The bread is the pane recipe that I use to make pizza dough! As good as it is for pizza dough-it was even better as crunchy small loaves that we snacked on today! I put a bowl of water in the oven to crisp up the dough and I don't think the results could have any better!

My mailbox is filled with emails from friends and associates expressing anxiety over the current economic "slow-downs" in communities across America. As a small business owner most of my life, even in good economic times the challenge has always been how to stand out in a sea of small businesses and creative thinkers. I strongly believe that my success can be measured by the quality of life I have enjoyed over the years. There have been a few flops, some fabulous successes and then the fifteen or so years in between. I started my first company at the tender age of ten years old. It was a "bread route" on the Wiesbaden Air Force Base Housing in Germany. I remember watching an older kid carrying a bag of groceries for his mom and thinking I could do that. I had access to a wagon. . . I was strong and most importantly I had a captive audience in the housewives not wanting to carry heavy bags of milk, cheese and eggs in the hot sun. I envisioned a new day and enjoyed g...