Now that we're halfway into January, I have figured out what my resolution will be! It's a two for one-er!
1. Learn How to Bake, Specifically Bread
I've always wanted to learn how to bake, but I've never been good at it. Like...never. No matter how simple the recipe, I always found some way to mess it up. But lately, as my skills have improved in the kitchen, my baking skills got a little better as well, and I effed up less and less each time I baked (which happened maybe once a year!) So this year, I decided to finally face my fears and become full blown Betty Crocker.
Why was baking so hard for me you ask? Shouldn't it be easy? Yes. Don't you just follow the recipe and throw it in the oven? Yes. What's so hard about that? Math and precision, is what's so hard about that! When you bake, you have to be accurate with your measurements, which for a normal person isn't hard, but for me, it goes against how I learned how to cook. I never measure. I just do what feels right, and I taste it along the way. But that's the thing about baking. You can't taste as you go! No one wants to put their tongue on bread dough! And although I can be OCD about many things, measurements isn't one of them. When a recipe calls for 2 cups of flour, I would do 2ish cups - while most of it spills off the sides of the measuring cup into the bowl - and think, "That's good enough. I mean honestly, how much can you mess up the final product if you don't measure EXACTLY 2 cups?" (I bet you bakers who are reading this are probably losing your minds right now, huh? You're probably thinking, "You should WEIGH it, not measure cups!")
So why bread? Well, in my quest to complete my incarnation of becoming a full on tree hugging hippie, I think baking your own bread is an important step to better health. I'm never going to give up carbs because...let's be real. But what I can do is make sure that the carbs that I do eat is free of preservatives and artificial crap that my body doesn't need. Store bought bread is not that good for you (even whole wheat ones) so I think if I can totally stop buying bread, I would be on the right track to better health and a cleaner diet!
2. Bullet Journal
What the heck is bullet journaling you ask? It's basically a journal, to do list, and calendar all in one, written in pretty handwriting! I recommend you Google it to see some examples. I didn't know what it was until earlier this year, but I absolutely love the idea! For an artistic person like me who loves to be organized with tasks lists it seemed right up my alley.
But I didn't want to use my bullet journal for what it's typically used for. I already have a journal, calendar, and to do list, and combining them wasn't something I wanted to do, so instead I'm going to use my bullet journal to track my progress with baking! For each loaf of bread that I make, I will notate the date, recipe, results, and any side notes to myself like, "You really screwed this one up!"
I will share with you my baking journey with this blog (or just through FB/Instagram) as much I can! I'm really excited about this and I hope I can keep it up! Wish me luck!
1. Learn How to Bake, Specifically Bread
I've always wanted to learn how to bake, but I've never been good at it. Like...never. No matter how simple the recipe, I always found some way to mess it up. But lately, as my skills have improved in the kitchen, my baking skills got a little better as well, and I effed up less and less each time I baked (which happened maybe once a year!) So this year, I decided to finally face my fears and become full blown Betty Crocker.
Why was baking so hard for me you ask? Shouldn't it be easy? Yes. Don't you just follow the recipe and throw it in the oven? Yes. What's so hard about that? Math and precision, is what's so hard about that! When you bake, you have to be accurate with your measurements, which for a normal person isn't hard, but for me, it goes against how I learned how to cook. I never measure. I just do what feels right, and I taste it along the way. But that's the thing about baking. You can't taste as you go! No one wants to put their tongue on bread dough! And although I can be OCD about many things, measurements isn't one of them. When a recipe calls for 2 cups of flour, I would do 2ish cups - while most of it spills off the sides of the measuring cup into the bowl - and think, "That's good enough. I mean honestly, how much can you mess up the final product if you don't measure EXACTLY 2 cups?" (I bet you bakers who are reading this are probably losing your minds right now, huh? You're probably thinking, "You should WEIGH it, not measure cups!")
So why bread? Well, in my quest to complete my incarnation of becoming a full on tree hugging hippie, I think baking your own bread is an important step to better health. I'm never going to give up carbs because...let's be real. But what I can do is make sure that the carbs that I do eat is free of preservatives and artificial crap that my body doesn't need. Store bought bread is not that good for you (even whole wheat ones) so I think if I can totally stop buying bread, I would be on the right track to better health and a cleaner diet!
2. Bullet Journal
What the heck is bullet journaling you ask? It's basically a journal, to do list, and calendar all in one, written in pretty handwriting! I recommend you Google it to see some examples. I didn't know what it was until earlier this year, but I absolutely love the idea! For an artistic person like me who loves to be organized with tasks lists it seemed right up my alley.
But I didn't want to use my bullet journal for what it's typically used for. I already have a journal, calendar, and to do list, and combining them wasn't something I wanted to do, so instead I'm going to use my bullet journal to track my progress with baking! For each loaf of bread that I make, I will notate the date, recipe, results, and any side notes to myself like, "You really screwed this one up!"
I will share with you my baking journey with this blog (or just through FB/Instagram) as much I can! I'm really excited about this and I hope I can keep it up! Wish me luck!
I am so happy for you! I have thrown away many rocks in my earlier bread baking days. So don't give up. In my experience bread baking doesnt really have to be that accurate but cakes and cookies are more precise. Thought you will be happy to know that.
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