After reading this post, it may surprise you that I can plan, organize, and cook multiple course meals for many people. I can put on some pretty good parties, be a decent bartender, and have great appetisers. However, what I most certainly lack is the necessary skills for baking. There's zero art to it except in the confines of science. This is where things start going terribly wrong. Sadly, I have not even seriously cooked in a long time because travel life while studying and working is not particularly conducive to many happy hours in the kitchen surrounded by copper, spices, and wine. Thus, my first time back in the kitchen in many moons provides some important reflective insights that I thought I would share with you.
- When putting the mixer things in the mixer, do not test if they are really in there to stay while holding on to them. They still fall out and numbness follows for a very long time.
- When using molasses, it is strongly recommended to either a) put the cap back on immediately or b) not put it on the edge of the work area you're focused. Very bad things happen, especially if clumsiness has any potential factor.
- Do not assume that if you can get the measuring item into the jar of whatever you're getting, ie, sugar, that means you can also manipulate the substance into your measuring device and retract it. In fact, if there is any similarity in size, you are looking at approximately 10 minutes of anger and suddenly having empathy with the sheep that gets their heads stuck in fences.
- Baking measure a lot of stuff. I mean, a LOT of stuff. Have lots of measuring devices available so you don't have to keep washing them absurdly thoroughly and trick your man into the washing. Another option is to plan out your dry measuring before the wet measuring, but option A is much easier.
- Do not, I repeat, DO NOT use the baking soda let in your refrigerator for two years. It turns odd colours. In fact, you may consider pitching it altogether.
- Wearing dark clothes in any activity that involves flour is stupid.
- When it says butter should be room temperature, it really means it. Otherwise it has a habit of slipping around, and possibly popping out and sticking to the oven range hood.
- Do not expect a manicure to survive any type of baking effort.
- It turns out that if you haven't used appliances in a long time, cobwebs develop. Check for these before you use them. If you don't, you then have to wrestle with the idea of just not telling the individual for whom you're baking or redoing the sifting. I'll leave it up to you on which option I selected.
Just for you to have a visual of what happens when you do not maintain the baking habit plus suck at it in the first place, please observe and vicariously learn through me :)
