Besides fashion and beauty, we’re going to have a couple non-fashion people at our Frost Fashion Market and with the holidays right around the corner, many of us are in the mood for baking…. and LOVE! We are excited to feature Michelle Poirier, author of SugarLove: Broken Cookies Still Taste Good.
1) What inspired you to write this book?
Since I love to bake and often modified or made up my own recipes, friends said that I should write a cook book. I didn’t want to write just a cook book though and knew that if, a big “if,” I ever wrote one, that it had to have a twist to it. I was hit with this idea, that each recipe would personify a particular type of guy, years ago when I was experimenting with a fudgy brownie recipe for my then boyfriend. It wasn’t your typical ‘one bowl brownie mix.’ Rather, it was complex and had an unexpected ingredient. For that recipe, the sum of the parts was so much more as it yielded a moist and fudgy brownie that I’d never had before. It hit me that it, the recipe, wasn’t dissimiliar from my then boyfriend. He appeared to be the ‘bad boy’ on the outside – bad boys are always good looking – and with attitude; however, he was so much more. He was a good communicator, in touch with his emotions, and so sweet. Boom. Idea for a cook book with a twist happened!
2) At what age did you discover your passion for baking?
Gosh, I’d say middle school, but definitely high school. With a mom who worked two jobs, I found myself looking through her cook books and then searching the cabinets for ingredients to bake something if she wasn’t home. That’s how I started. I’d make whatever I could with the ingredients already in our kitchen. I’d even spend my Friday nights in with my best gal friend baking. We loved to surprise our mom’s with our goodies!
3) How has navigating the single life been in your 20s, 30s and 40’s. What’s been the difference in decades with your inner dialogue?
Wow, it’s so much harder now (in my 40s). In your 20s, you are just starting out in adult life and have no expectations, only hopes. Time is on your side and you have no agenda. For me, I was a late bloomer and didn’t really become the person I always wanted to be until about age 29; so, my 30s were really my time of self discovery. My social world opened up (I attribute that to the recognition that 5280 Magazine gave me when they chose me as one of their “Most Eligible Singles” for the February 2003 issue). I embraced my newly expanded social networks. I was dating multiple guys at once but not getting close to any one of them. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I got wrapped up in a social scene of people who mostly wanted to stay single and I now realize that is partly why I’m still single. Even if I did meet someone with potential (which I did), I kept them at arms distance and that caused the relationship not to develop. Now, I’m ready for the ‘one.’ I’m not worried about missing someone better that may come along. I’m upfront with the men that I meet now. If they are looking for the ‘good time,’ it’s not me. I’m looking for my special someone; someone to create history with and look back on the years together.
4) Do you ever want to get married?
YES! Do you have someone in mind for me?
5) What’s your favorite part of the holidays?
Christmas cookies! I’m serious. They are so much more than just a treat. They are a representation of someone’s time, love, and effort. They are unique to that the giver and can’t be found anywhere else. What a gift!