So I've been baking for a little while now. Ok, probably more than a little while if you count the years since college graduation (in which I began making fancy desserts) and the times during college (in which I survived by living off of chocolate chip cookies - and had the dress size to prove it) and the time before that, when my mom taught me the proper technique basics (separating wet and dry, not over mixing, not using melted butter or - the horror! - margarine). Which probably means that, at this point, major kitchen disasters are one of those distant memories. Yes, every time I walk into the kitchen it should be a serene, Zen-like experience where everything comes out clean and beautiful and perfect. Just like all those blogs around the internet with the most perfect looking baked goods you've ever seen in your life, all photographed in a fairy-nymph forest, awash in natural lighting.
Well, should is probably the optimal word here. Because sometimes (and definitely more than I would like) things go terribly wrong. Sometimes I'm very tired when I start to bake. Sometimes I do things like misread the directions and cream the butter and eggs without adding the sugar first. Sometimes I have to throw out a half a pound's worth of butter and two eggs because I didn't just listen to the inner voice that told me, "well that's an odd technique." Sometimes I add too much batter to the cupcake pan and they overflow in my tiny oven. Sometimes I make cheesecake and the water bath leaks into the fortress of aluminum foil that I surrounded it with, which, like most walls, didn't do a darn thing in protecting my precious (and very expensive) cheesecake from outside, water invaders.
Sometimes, even now, disasters happen in the kitchen.
And here's the thing: life's like that. Sometimes you're tired and things go wrong. Sometimes in the middle of it all, you can't possible imagine how things will ever be ok again - how they will ever work out. But then you keep going. You improvise. You start over again on some things and salvage others. You take notes about what you did wrong. Then you go to bed and wake up the next morning and survey the damage. And usually, almost always, everything is fine. The cupcakes - which taste delicious - get a little frosting ban-aid, the cheesecake, it turns out, isn't destroyed. The butter and eggs were a small sacrifice. You figured a few things out and grew a bit from it all; you realize, of course, that things are going to be just fine.
Generally speaking, baking is a reprieve for me; a time when I'm in control and comfortable - when I can feed myself and others. Despite the fact that I poured boiling water over my cheesecake just before putting it in (note: boiling tea kettles spurt water) and having the water leak through the aluminum foil from the water bath, the desserts I'm working on for my brother's birthday survived with minimal damage. And so did I.
The cheesecake and cupcakes I have been working on are not done yet, so check back for pictures and a review some time after Saturday. Also, the cupcakes actually came out perfect this time around, but they have overflowed in the past. Oops! Live and learn.
Well, should is probably the optimal word here. Because sometimes (and definitely more than I would like) things go terribly wrong. Sometimes I'm very tired when I start to bake. Sometimes I do things like misread the directions and cream the butter and eggs without adding the sugar first. Sometimes I have to throw out a half a pound's worth of butter and two eggs because I didn't just listen to the inner voice that told me, "well that's an odd technique." Sometimes I add too much batter to the cupcake pan and they overflow in my tiny oven. Sometimes I make cheesecake and the water bath leaks into the fortress of aluminum foil that I surrounded it with, which, like most walls, didn't do a darn thing in protecting my precious (and very expensive) cheesecake from outside, water invaders.
Sometimes, even now, disasters happen in the kitchen.
And here's the thing: life's like that. Sometimes you're tired and things go wrong. Sometimes in the middle of it all, you can't possible imagine how things will ever be ok again - how they will ever work out. But then you keep going. You improvise. You start over again on some things and salvage others. You take notes about what you did wrong. Then you go to bed and wake up the next morning and survey the damage. And usually, almost always, everything is fine. The cupcakes - which taste delicious - get a little frosting ban-aid, the cheesecake, it turns out, isn't destroyed. The butter and eggs were a small sacrifice. You figured a few things out and grew a bit from it all; you realize, of course, that things are going to be just fine.
Generally speaking, baking is a reprieve for me; a time when I'm in control and comfortable - when I can feed myself and others. Despite the fact that I poured boiling water over my cheesecake just before putting it in (note: boiling tea kettles spurt water) and having the water leak through the aluminum foil from the water bath, the desserts I'm working on for my brother's birthday survived with minimal damage. And so did I.
The cheesecake and cupcakes I have been working on are not done yet, so check back for pictures and a review some time after Saturday. Also, the cupcakes actually came out perfect this time around, but they have overflowed in the past. Oops! Live and learn.
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