I am not a stay-at-home mum, I do not have a lot of patience, I treat house chores as necessary evil and I find Martha Stewart scary.
But yes, I do love baking and I find it a creative and relaxing hobby, and so can you – if you look at it in the right way (i.e. my way
For me baking is like experimenting, and an extremely gratifying one. What gives more satisfaction than creating something entirely new from scratch? And isn’t it what baking is all about – you throw a few basic ingredients like flour and sugar and chocolate together, and you end up with something new, delicious and everyone around you is grateful to you for the treat. And it was a pleasure to prepare it!
For me it’s also experimenting because I rarely bake the same thing twice – not counting a few “classic” cakes from my ever-growing repertoire. When I have a moment free I love to curl up in the armchair with a pile of glossy books about baking ( I only use those who have a picture accompanying each recipe, since it’s the pictures which speak to me as much as the ingredients). I browse, mark whatever I like, check the ingredients list if I can get everything easily ( a pity very often it’s not the case), and then just bake it next time I have a chance. Another cake, another experience, another adventure. I can always pick whatever I feel like and avoid what I do not like or what’s too time-consuming.
In my experience a lot of recipes do not take longer to make than half an hour, and after that you’re first rewarded with a wonderful aroma filling your home, and then with a sweet treat everyone can enjoy and complement – and hey, in reality it was so easy to make, and the kudos you get are HUUUUGE
Convinced to try your hand at baking? I recommend muffins – but that’s for the next post.