About Me

I like to say that I'm a little bit of everything and a whole lot of nothing. I've done a lot of cool things in my life, but they're spread out across the board. My name is Jessica and I'm a twentysomething product of the boomerang generation. Yes, unfortunately, I still live with my family – which works out, though, because I always have guinea pigs to test my recipes out on. I'm an avid sports fan, music lover, animal lover and someone who likes to be involved in things. I currently only have 3 pets – a 6-year old quaker parrot named Murphy, and two turtles, 9-year old Rocco and 2-year old Sparkler (who is technically my niece's turtle, I just keep him because I have the herpatarium setup). I used to have all kinds of tropical fish as well, and I hope someday soon to have them again.

I played street hockey and basketball as a kid. I don't play any organized sports now, but I am a certified Scuba Schools International Dive Control Specialist and love assisting with scuba diving classes. I also work for the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Guest Services department. Most of my life, I thought I wanted to either work with animals, work in sports or maybe music. Through the years, though, I've found that those are tough career paths.

How did I get started in baking? A few years ago, one of my father's co-workers gave him a freezer bag full of sourdough starter and a recipe for Amish Friendship Bread. You're supposed to bake a loaf and pass the rest of the starter on. The thing is that my family doesn't have a whole lot of friends that they don't work with. There weren't any people who wanted starter that hadn't already gotten it from the same person. So I kept the starter and embarked on trying to find other uses for it. Some recipes have been successes, others colossal failures. Bread baking is tough in the Florida humidity, so except for winter time (and sometimes not even then), I stick to quick breads. However, my family loves my sourdough pancakes, and I've had reasonable success with soft pretzel cookies. My problem lately is my diet. I've lost a lot of weight, but when I can't sample all the fruits of my labors, I sometimes struggle to find the incentive to pull out the mixing bowls. On the other hand, it's starting to open up some new, creative opportunities – how can I make my recipes healthier?

 In my spare time, I love online gaming on both my PC and my iPhone. I'm almost always up for a Words With Friends, Hanging With Friends, Scramble With Friends or Draw Something game – my username is aquamarine84. I play a little guitar, love scuba diving and rollerblading, and numerous arts and crafts.