I have no idea what I'm doing.

Please understand that up front. I'm the girl that has a couple dozen projects going at once (none finished). The one whose house is total chaos. I have 20 years of vacations planned out to the last detail - even though it may never happen. My store Cooks on Main has Gilmore Girls, Cabin Masters or the most eclectic Spotify list going on the TV. I'm just not an organized person in general. Talk to me for 2 minutes and you'll find out just what a hot mess I really am. I write like I talk. Don't expect complete sentences or perfect grammar. My high school English teachers are all going to start drinking more than coffee at the County Co-Op in the mornings.

I have no idea what to say - not usually a problem for me. I like to talk. A lot. About everything. To anyone.

I get that from my Dad. So let's just start there.

Family. That's what prompted the hubs and I to say "hey, let's move home". Our family is in Northern Maine. And so were our hearts. So the journey began. But what was up with deciding to open a retail store centered around food? Because I'm a food junkie. My favorite place to shop is the grocery store.

But in all seriousness, I grew up around food. My parents owned a restaurant when I was little. I grew up there. Then I grew up a little more at the school where Mom taught Culinary Arts to high schoolers. We catered. We did cakes. All the things.

But what I really remember was the food. And I don't mean what was there. I just remember that it WAS there. Most of the great memories centered around food. Family parties, learning to cook from my soul from 3 generations of women. I started learning how to cook by sitting on the bar at the house helping Mom. There are permanent wear marks from all the tiny butts that have learned to cook there over the years. Mom having her recipes in her head, not on paper. My uncle Tommy's specialty were his biscuits. Drooling. Dad always asking what the next meal was while still chewing on the current one. Gram's fall apart frying pan steaks that no one knows how she did it. And now I'm the one that gets the phone calls asking if a chicken is ok if it got cooked upside down. Yup - it's fine.

They say your childhood shapes your adulthood. It's totally true. Ya know what? If the hubs and I decide to take a day trip, the first thing I do is go online and find out where we're eating and check out the menu. I know what I'm having before we even get in the Jeep. Food brings people together. No matter what. No matter when. No matter who.

This whole blog thing came about with a family text with Tammy and Tessa. Tessa said "Hey you should do a blog". That was at 9pm. I was writing until midnight. So basically if you come into the store today I'm worthless. I thought about what to write about. I thought how in the hell am I going to put this together? I finally settled on this:

Will there be food involved? Absolutely.

But don't be surprised by my wandering mind (it happens a lot).

I don't know what will get put on here or when. I'll be just as surprised as you!

For now that's all I have. Until the next random thought keeps me awake...

-Cara