Well, I’m hosting a baby shower in a few weeks and again, am faced with the huge monster in my life that rears its’ ugly head every celebration that comes along. I can’t bake. I mean, it’s really bad. I made a cake mix for my daughter’s birthday and she was so grossed out by the cake she wouldn’t eat it. You know it’s bad if you can’t make a mix.
I guess I would have to put my personal life talents in 4 groups. Group number one: Things I do well. These items I naturally do well, or have taken a class, or something...but they are easy for me. Cooking, sewing...that sort of thing. Group number two are things I don’t do well, or do at all, but this list are things that would make my life easier if I LEARNED to do them well. Every woman has this list. It can cause her to be insecure if she will let it...just depends on how comfy in her skin one is. I’m pretty comfy in my skin, but I visit this list and pull items from it to push myself up a level.. Group 3-things I do not do at all but will get around to when my kids can all go potty on their own and dress themselves (like flying). And group 4-things that I don’t care if I ever do well at, such as play the trombone.Baking is in group number 2. I am horrible at it...but it is starting to personally affect my life since I keep having kids and those kids have birthdays.
I can bake three things. Chocolate chip cookies, apple pie, and carrot cake. (A great moment was finding out my firstborn was going to be a “Fall” baby....carrot cake makes a great “Fall” birthday cake) Besides this list, it’s a rare occasion that I have baked anything close to being good...let alone great. So, I finally had to bite the bullet this week and evaluate this baking thing. (Being a food snob can be hard on a woman at times) Why it’s so hard for me to just pick up an HEB cake or COSTCO cake has become crystal clear....the ingredients are printed right on the six inch long label... no matter how hard you try to ignore them, your eye can easily pick up one or more chemicals, even in your peripheral vision. Oh, it’s just one tiny celebration, you say. Well, try on 5 kids for size, plus moms, dads, showers, Christmas....and suddenly the chemical ingestion content is off the charts. And this is just at my house alone...start adding other kids’ birthday parties and other adult parties and you have a frenzied liver by the end of the year. Do I sound a little neurotic? Well, so be it...a woman has to do what a woman has to do with her personality and I have to live with myself...so these are the entertaining muses I experience on pretty much a daily basis.
Oh, one more thing. You don’t HAVE to shop at HEB for cake, you can go to Le Cake or some fabulous place and special order some fabulous little ditty for your party made with amazing ingredients. But the way God made me, this rubs my fur backwards. O.K. Pickup or takeout is supposed to make life easier, right? I think that’s for the single guy or that cute couple next door with no kids...for me, it’s a stress “adder”. And then there’s the cheap part of me that knows the $60.00 cake one just bought only cost $4.95 plus labor. There are some basic survival skills I have acquired as I have had more and more children. One....if you have to drive somewhere to get it (especially right before a party when you’re sweaty and covered with food), all this will do is add stress, not take it away. And two, it’s hard for me to part with money for a wad of sugar, butter, and flour....no matter how gorgeous the wad is...so, I have decided it’s time to learn to to bake.
I decided I would give myself 3-7 days to figure this out once and for all, and then I can bring it over to list number one. Now, I have not perfected the art, but I have figured out a couple of things. (which is sort of a big deal because the baby is taking all my dha right now and my brain has been put on “hold” for a few more weeks-I truly have a 12 cylinder brain, but right now it seems to only be operating on 2 cylinders, thinking it’s more like one...milk in the pantry, that sort of thing) Anyway, I have learned how to bake cupcakes. I bought a cupcake recipe book written by a pastry chef. And the biggest “deal” with baking is this: YOU HAVE TO FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS. This has been VERY hard for me. But I reasoned with myself until I got o.k. with it. You have to follow directions when you make soap, and I can do that. So, if I have to follow directions in order to get the desired result in baking...I just have to do it. O.K. number two is, DON’T FORGET TO FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS (and PRAY over the pan). Why this is so hard, not sure, but I am a substitute queen. And, once I decided to use regular flour (not spelt) butter (not coconut oil), and eggs that are at room temperature (like the recipe states), those little cakes came out of the oven like I had been baking forever.
Now, I can tell there’s a big ‘ol learning curve on this. You have to try a recipe and then do different icings....that kind of thing to get it down to your personal science, but after a few successful tries (I’ve been baking up a storm over here), the confidence level is there now to bake for this shower. And really, that’s what we women need, right? to keep the fire stoked? A couple of good dishes, a realization that we can really do something...and then there’s wind in those sails to bring items on the group 2 list right on over to group 1 list and give a little pat on the back.
No comments:
Post a Comment