One holiday season about twenty years ago Tom Boerger, the genius behind Cookie Daddy, decided he would take over the dinner preparation for the family’s festive Christmas Eve celebration.  It was always an evening filled with family performing musical numbers, Christmas readings, and, of course, Santa always made an appearance.  The evening was sumptuous and beautiful with fragrant, fresh trees laden with lights and ornaments in the living and dining rooms.  Live pine garlands looped around the crystal chandelier and the dining room table glistened with silver, china, crystal, candles and enormous cut glass bowls of blood-red roses.   It was an evening that all in the family, from eight to eighty, anticipated with great excitement.

So, it was with trepidation that Tana, Tom’s wife and the keeper of the Christmas Eve tradition, agreed to allow Tom to create the Christmas Eve dinner.  Until that event, Tom had never shown the slightest interest in meal preparation, but on that Christmas Eve, with twenty people around the festive table, Tom pulled off an extraordinary feast of Beef Wellington, Potatoes Anna, Haricot Vert, Homemade Bread and Individual Chocolate Soufflés, to a standing ovation.  From that night on, and to the great surprise of his mother and his wife, he has never looked back.

Tom began reading every food magazine, cookbook and newspaper article about food.  Julia Child became his pin-up girl and Julia and Jacques were the “it” couple as far as he was concerned. 

So, it was with trepidation that Tana, Tom’s wife and the keeper of the Christmas Eve tradition, agreed to allow Tom to create the Christmas Eve dinner.  Until that event, Tom had never shown the slightest interest in meal preparation, but on that Christmas Eve, with twenty people around the festive table, Tom pulled off an extraordinary feast of Beef Wellington, Potatoes Anna, Haricot Vert, Homemade Bread and Individual Chocolate Soufflés, to a standing ovation.  From that night on, and to the great surprise of his mother and his wife, he has never looked back.

In 2005 Tom received a life-changing Christmas gift, a gift certificate to a Culinary Institute of America Boot Camp.  This intensive two-day course at the CIA in New York was a grueling, fascinating, exciting introduction to the serious culinary world.  Starting at 6:00 a.m. and finishing at 7:00 p.m., the two days were jammed with classes and mind-expanding conversations.  Though baking classes were not on his course schedule, several of his classes were next to the baking classrooms.  The aromas pouring out of those classrooms and the beautiful creations appearing at the end of the day captivated Tom.  Until then, Tom had avoided anything to do with baking, but seeing and smelling the magic bakers could create, he fell in love.