A little background to start off...

Back in October 2005, I received an email indicating that Zen Center of Los Angeles, where I am a member, was looking for someone to take over the job of providing the cookies that we have after the talks that are usually offered on Thursday evenings.  Having nothing else to do with myself (lol), I volunteered to take over this responsibility.  Either because I sit at a computer all day and was the first to respond, or because no one else wanted to come within 50 feet of this kind of responsibility, I was the lucky winner...

Now, historically, this job has consisted of bringing a couple of tubs of cookies from Trader Joe's.  For that first week, though, I decided to make some brownies from scratch.  And, being concerned about people perhaps having nut allergies, I decided to make two pans, one with nuts, and the other without.  Well, people really liked having home-cooked treats, which I guess have become a rarity nowadays - at least for many people living in Los Angeles.  People were amazed that, not only had I baked them myself, but they had been made from scratch, and not from a box.

Anyway, after that first week, I decided to continue with the baking, and I have been baking cookies or other types of treats weekly since then.  For the first two years, I was following a rule that I would not repeat any recipe (although, when pressed for time, variations were OK); in the last year, I have relaxed that rule and now repeat a recipe now and again (when I can remember which ones I've made before).  At this point, I'm probably up past 200+ recipes.

Not being the most organized person, I did not track what recipes I was cooking, how they came out, what people thought, etc.  I mean, after all, who knew where this was going?  Now, almost three years in, I thought maybe it was time to start a blog to track the cookie baking craziness of my life (I can't tell you how many people have asked where I find the time for this; it helps to have no life) and whatever else comes up.  So let's start this exploration together.

As for the title, Dogen writes, in his "Instructions to the Cook" of the three minds a mature person, those being vast mind, caring mind, and joyful mind.  I like to think that cookie baking falls within the joyful mind part of the equation.  Where would blogging fit?

Dharma-Joy