Half-baked

I wrote this over two years ago and am looking to it now for motivation...

Thursday, January 24, 2008
Baking away
Current mood: accomplished
Category: Food and Restaurants
Anyone who knows me knows that I have always loved baking desserts. Ever since I took home ec in junior high, I had a thing for baking. When I was on speech team in HS, I brought baked goods to almost every tournament. I even baked cookies and cakes for my friends' birthdays at various times. Today, I baked chocolate chip cookies. I know that sounds simple, but they're easy to mess up if one ingredient is out of place or if the oven isn't just the right temperature. Luckily, the cookies I made today came out perfect. (Oddly enough, the recipe said it made 5 dozen cookies and I only got 3 1/2 dozen.) I baked a cake from scratch a few weeks ago, and that was also a hit. My husband even said it was comparable to Zadie's (a really good Kosher bakery out here). I've decided that I'm going to be more experimental this year in baking. Sometimes I rely on a mix (and I probably still should sometimes because we have a zillion mixes), but I want to bake more desserts from scratch this year. I also want to try out new recipes, no matter how scary they look. I guess it's my "Bree" side coming out to play, but I enjoy the fulfillment that baking gives me. Especially when I get to taste the finished product. I'm baking the cake again tomorrow because I just liked it that much, but then I'm going to try some other recipes. Next on my list after this is hamentaschen. I need to find a good recipe for the dough and I want to make it ahead of time because I don't know if I'll be in the hospital closer to Purim, depending on when Eitan's future sibling wants to make their appearance (b'shaah tovah).

I think my inspiration to bake new items comes from reading "Good Grief" last year. The main character does a lot of baking and makes it sound fun. In any case, I'll be spending more time by the oven this year and will report on how things turn out.

Follow up:
I totally strayed from the path I tried to set for myself at the time I wrote this blog. Sure, I love to bake, but I go for the timeless classics over new and exciting and I still rely on mixes a lot. I tell people when I've used a mix because if I'm going to make something from scratch, I want it to be appreciated that much more. I enjoy making frozen desserts as much as baked ones. I just made one of my favorite dairy pie recipes for Shavuot. I'm excited to share it with everyone. Especially since the other two dessert items are from mixes. The hamentaschen I made earlier this year came out better than any of the batches from previous years. I've tried a couple of new recipes from scratch and resorted to a couple of favorites. The best new recipe is from my sister-in-law. It's a chocolate pie that is easy to make and tastes heavenly, like a baked cookie. Even better warm with ice cream on top! (Pareve on Shabbat, of course.) I make lots of pumpkin pie when pumpkin is available. I had some extra cans and made a cake using one of them. I even froze the rest of the pumpkin because it's such a rare commodity these days! Another item I like making from scratch is peanut butter balls. I received the recipe around the time I wrote the blog about baking and I make them occasionally. I savor them and you know you're special if I share any with you. That's how good they are! They take a lot of work though, but after a few frozen peanut butter balls, the effort is all worth it!

As far as mixes go, I'm always a fan of Duncan Hines chewy fudge brownies. I even mixed Ande's mint chips in for a pot-luck at work last week. I mix chocolate chips in at other times. I usually make cakes from mixes. I tend to stock up when they go on sale. And then there are the toffee bars, which require a caramel cake mix that can only be found in one store in Illinois. A friend of my parents will pick some up for me and I am grateful to her for that! She just gave my parents some more boxes recently and they sent me three. You can bet I'll be savoring those!

I bake challah by hand instead of using the bread machine, but I've always used fresh ingredients. It's much more satisfying to do by hand. Kneading is a great way to get out stress. I've recently gone back to the "Loaves of Love" method. From every freshly baked batch, I give one loaf of challah to a neighbor. I'm working my way down the block. :)

I'll always be a dessert person. I may not be able to decorate cakes as well as some of my talented friends, but I love sharing my favorite desserts with the people I care about! That is motivation in itself to keep on baking (or freezing).