BREAUX BRIDGE – Debbie Guidry-Gauthier has entered several of her recipes, including her award winning “Crab Cakes” and “Seafood Corn Bisque,” in the Teche News Cookbook a number of years ago. She describes “cooking and baking” as her therapy after a “sometimes” stressful day of work. She has also taken cake decorating classes, Sushi for Beginners, and a few other fun and entertaining classes thru UL’s Potpourri program. Born and raised in Breaux Bridge, Gauthier has been employed by Pellerin Funeral Homes as the family assistance coordinator for 13 years and had previously worked for Farmers-Merchants Bank for 15 years.

A passionate collector of cookbooks, she has amassed a vast number of cookbooks and recipes ranging from Cajun to Mediterranean cuisines. So much so, that when her friends needed a recipe they would merely pick up the phone or send her an email asking “Deb, do you have a recipe for…?” Hence, how her own cookbook got it’s name.

“Compiling all my favorite recipes from my own creations, family treasures and those shared with me by my friends, into a cookbook was something I’ve wanted to do for years, but just never sat down long enough to think it through, until I spent a girl’s weekend, right before the Christmas holiday, with two of my very good friends, Shaleen Pellerin and Teri Stelly.”

Teri mentioned she was making a cookbook through TasteBook.com with 25 of her Mom’s recipes to give to her brothers and sisters. Shaleen was quick to jump in and say, “You need to do that with all your recipes.”

“Well, 2008 was not a great year for me. I lost three very important people in my life, my Dad was one of them and I needed a distraction. I sat down that Sunday evening, after our weekend get-a-way, with my laptop and began my very own cookbook creation and couldn’t believe how simple it was and how fast I had finished.”

“In a little less than a month I had typed in 100 of my favorite recipes. I was so impressed with the quality and appearance of the cookbook I couldn’t wait to show my family and friends. Now I have something for my nieces and nephews to treasure and pass along to their children, like those special recipes from my Mom, such as her Macaroni & Cheese and Cabbage Rolls, and my grandmother’s Gateau Sirop, and a few other newer creations. Needless to say, I’m proud of myself – I finally got it done!

“There’s no doubt that I love to cook and bake; cheesecakes are my specialty, it’s something I do quite well. I don’t mean to brag, but I can.

“It just comes naturally, I didn’t learn from my Mom because when we’d get home from school, supper was already done. It must be in the genes; my Mom and grandmothers were wonderful cooks and bakers, they loved cooking and feeding family and friends for any occasion just as much as I do.

“My ultimate dream job? To open a small café and bed & breakfast. Who knows what the future holds?