Today's edition is a combination of reader's requests:
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(Blue Lace Daisy asked me to cook/bake something, while Trisha asked me to share a 'bare my soul' type post). So, today I'm a cookin' + confessin'!
Or... bakin' + soul-barin' to be more correct:
Or... bakin' + soul-barin' to be more correct:
Being married to an amazing baker, makes me a bit of a spoiled brat.
I tend to feign swooning onto the couch, while sighing aloud: "IF only someone would bake me a batch of brownies/butter tarts/cupcakes.... whatever".
<crickets>
For some strange reason, my husband (who's returned from baking all morning) doesn't always jump when I say that.
"Go for it" he'll say... "Just look up a recipe online".
...
"Fine" says I... stomping over to the interwebs.
Oh look, here's an EASY recipe for my lavender shortbread craving!
(Honestly, if a recipe has more than 5 ingredients I'll break out in a cold sweat).
Then, just to be a real fancy pants... I melted down some white chocolate to dip the shortbread in.
FAIL: adding orange zest to the stove top melted chocolate made it all gum up.. so I had to just trowel it on to the cookies after.
A buttery, lavender'y, yummy treat... nom nom nom!
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Now let me bare my soul further.
Just because I run a blog.. does not mean I'm a domestic diva.
Sure, I'm creative... but in the kitchen? Not so much.
If I'm cooking, I tend to just wing it.
I like to invent, throw a dash of this, pop a pinch of that... because following a recipe would seriously cramp my style.
You know, much like the way I hate to follow sewing patterns.. or any written instructions.
(I'm sure there's likely a psychological term for this: stubbornness, recklessness, arrogance..?!).
My husband doesn't get this about me.
"What's so hard about following a recipe?" he wonders.
Nothing, really.
But in my head, everything.
Maybe I have some unknown 'mental disorder'... but when I see instructions - I get overwhelmed and just sort of go into a stunned state. (Maybe this is why I never got my driver's license!).
Ummm... is this making any sense to anyone out there?
Maybe I fear the instructions... for fear of failing at them?
Fear of messing up... thereby wrecking the recipe/pattern/project.
It's a wonder I'm creative at all with such crippling concepts rattling around my brain!
But all that, is in my head.
Once I get my hands working... and realise how easy it is to actually create/bake according to the directions offered... I'm delighted at the success!
So there you have it.
Maybe I need to challenge myself to follow more recipes/crafting patterns.
Just imagine how fat and well adjusted I could be!
A musing mama,
Mel ;o)
Just because I run a blog.. does not mean I'm a domestic diva.
Sure, I'm creative... but in the kitchen? Not so much.
If I'm cooking, I tend to just wing it.
I like to invent, throw a dash of this, pop a pinch of that... because following a recipe would seriously cramp my style.
You know, much like the way I hate to follow sewing patterns.. or any written instructions.
(I'm sure there's likely a psychological term for this: stubbornness, recklessness, arrogance..?!).
My husband doesn't get this about me.
"What's so hard about following a recipe?" he wonders.
Nothing, really.
But in my head, everything.
Maybe I have some unknown 'mental disorder'... but when I see instructions - I get overwhelmed and just sort of go into a stunned state. (Maybe this is why I never got my driver's license!).
Ummm... is this making any sense to anyone out there?
Maybe I fear the instructions... for fear of failing at them?
Fear of messing up... thereby wrecking the recipe/pattern/project.
It's a wonder I'm creative at all with such crippling concepts rattling around my brain!
But all that, is in my head.
Once I get my hands working... and realise how easy it is to actually create/bake according to the directions offered... I'm delighted at the success!
So there you have it.
Maybe I need to challenge myself to follow more recipes/crafting patterns.
Just imagine how fat and well adjusted I could be!
A musing mama,
Mel ;o)
this is why i only knit in a straight line, why i love crocheting because you can "sculpt" with it, ALL baking is left to my Gibb, recipes are solely for inspiration, and no matter what it is, i set the temp at 450 ;) i think that maybe there have been 2 or 3 recipes that i have followed exactly, and even then, i bet i did SOMETHING different. i think if i follow a recipe it won't taste as good, and with the exception of a handful of things, everything turns out great! though no matter what, my sweet eats it anyway, even if it's not the best thing ever :) do you watch the same movies over and over and over? i am a creature of extreme repetition, i don't know if that has anything to do with my inability to follow directions, but i think it might :)
ReplyDeleteomg!!! i hear you so LOUD and clear!! we are so much alike! i too cannot really follow recipes or instructions and that is totally the main reason why i have not gotten a driver's license!!!! you are like my twin or something. i went to fit in nyc and studied fashion design for a while. but the problem was that it was all mostly pattern making and sewing. f that i said and switched to my beloved major of liberal arts... oh so much love for you right now. come over and let's bake!! lol
ReplyDeleteWhen you do something 'all by yourself', there is more pride in the accomplishment, I think.
ReplyDeleteI can't follow patterns either, although I usually follow recipes- I couldn't bear spending time in the kitchen to produce a flop. But if I manage to create something completely by my own brainpower, sweat and tears, I love it all the more.
Wow! That does look good! I've never had lavender short bread. Must try some soon!
ReplyDeleteI'm hit or miss in the kitchen. At least once a month I have a, "I don't know what happened, but apparently I can't cook day." On this day, I mess up anything I try to make. It's weird.
♥ Andrea
*Teetoo*
I have a near crippling fear of failure, so I totally get where you're coming from. I really have to force myself to try new things. That's why it took me YEARS to do anything but make a straight line while crocheting. I also only choose recipes with a few ingredients and then end up just dumping things in hoping it'll be edible. The funny thing is it almost always is in the end, but having Ian in the house (someone who enjoys cooking and has a natural ability to make everything AMAZING) makes it really hard for me to give things a try. It's like, having someone around who can do things better than me is enough reason not to even try. Silly!
ReplyDeleteYour shortbread looks amazing, by the way.
And this is why we get along... cause I'm your opposite! You know better than anyone how I must follow a pattern/recipe with almost no deviations from it :o). Without instructions, I almost would not be able to create anything. Sure, I have creative ideas... just too afraid to attempt them for fear of failure... hence the reason I DO follow patterns, lol
ReplyDeletehahaha... you *complete* me. My better half. My precision'ist pal! xx
ReplyDeleteGosh... it's a powerful force isn't it? Fear. What I really 'fear' is getting that much older and looking back wondering why I was so bent out of shape about such silly things.. just GO for it... us!! I hear you on the better (man) baker/chef... I'm always like "hey, since you actually ENJOY being in this kitchen.. knock yourself out!" I'll gladly run out of there... and craft. ;o)
ReplyDeleteI used to think 'lavender' in food was too 'prissy' sounding - or too girly to eat - something silly like that.. but it tastes SOOO lovely!! Try it... soon! ;o) xx
ReplyDeletegood point Cristi! Sometimes it's wiser to 'stand on the shoulders of giants' and follow instructions.. and other times it's so liberating to blaze your own creative trail!
ReplyDeleteseriously? get out of my head woman... !!! lol!! Tooooo funny. I love repeat movies too.. looking for more hidden/subtle things I missed the first few times... also, Batman anything deserves all my attention! ;o)
ReplyDeleteHaha!! That's so great Claudia.. glad to know I'm not alone in this crazy brain ;o) Actually I think us 'artsy' brains are much better visual learners... I LOVE instructions if they're pictorial! lol
ReplyDeleteThanks for the invite... I better start hitch-hiking now! xx
1st off, that shortbread looks so yummy! I may need to try some. I however am not a fan of chocolate so I'll skip that part haha
ReplyDeleteI think it's funny the difference between cooks/chefs and bakers. I am a baker, head to toe. I need a recipe. I need to follow that recipe and need to know exactly how much, when you add, etc etc. My husband, hes a cook. He likes to add things "to taste" and throws me off my game by saying things like "you'll just know" or "i don't know, you just add some.." What is that?! My mom does the same thing to me with recipes. "Honey, I don't know. You just know when it's done" Who are these people? And how do they "just know"? I need exact measures, times and temperatures. No guessing or changing things up (I mean yeah I can change a baking recipe to what I know will work. But you still don't just "throw stuff in" I think it is super interesting and fun to find out what people are - cooks or bakers.
thanks for the confession! now get on over to my blog and enter to win an awesome vintage skirt! http://veranellies.blogspot.com/2013/03/awesome-vintage-giveaway.html
xx
trisha
veranellies.blogspot.com
Ooooh aren`t we the opposite pair then?! You seem pretty rad though - so I think it works! Funny how bakers and chefs are often wired so differently... and funny how some of us have fears on both sides of the camp - fear to fail the formula, or fear to fail the freedom! lol Oh, humans.
ReplyDeleteYES! That skirt is adorable.. I started to enter - then forgot my etsy account name.. and gave up. I'll try to sort that out ;o) Thanks for today's post prompt too!
xx
So late to the party and so squarely in the middle!! I LOVE a good recipe, and then I adulterate the heck out of it!! Cause I can't help myself, I hate to be bound by *rules*!!! Hah!! Funny, still haven't got my license, I'm stumped by the rule book!
ReplyDeleteHaha.. you're never late... just on another time zone!! You don't have your license either?!! Shoot... did I know that?? Hilarious!! Twinsies ;o) I also do like looking at recipes as a 'springboard' to deviate from as well.. genius! xx
ReplyDeleteerrr... why I shouldn't reply before being really awake - duh, I DID know you and I both need our drivers... your christmas gift! Brain.fart. ;)
ReplyDelete