I've got an itch. Four days into 2012, and I have yet to bake anything! Well, that's not entirely true. I made a lemon cake on the night of Jan. 2 for my brother's birthday on Jan. 3, practicing my frosting and decorating skills (I need more practice, but it's fun!). The cake came from a box mix, however, since I didn't have time to make one from scratch. Now I've got nothing against box mixes--and the Dr. Oetker brand one I used happens to be more natural, less processed, and even organic (from Whole Foods Market). But if I've followed the directions according to the package, that leaves little room for experimentation and no recipe that I can post here (It would be a very short blog: Ingredients: On box. Directions: On box).
Part of the problem is that, aside from my brother's birthday, it feels like there's no upcoming occasions for which to bake right now. Christmas has ended. Fall spices and gourds have come and gone. Valentine's Day is still over a month away. I'm sure my family, friends and coworkers are tired of holiday treats by now (maybe?) and have started embracing the New Year's theme of healthy eating and resolutions. If that's the case, good for them! I fully support healthy eating, trying to incorporate whole grains and less saturated fat and no hydrogenated oils or high fructose corn syrup in all my baking attempts. So I guess the real problem is that I need help determining my next baking project. If I don't have a fall bake sale or a Christmas dinner to cook for, how am I supposed to choose a new treat from the infinite number of possibilities out there? I need inspiration!
Should it be cookies or cakes or pies? Include chocolate, fruit, or nuts? For my first recipe of the year...I'm going to let YOU decide! Send me ideas to pick from and I'll experiment my heart out! Maybe you want to see me make biscotti or scones. If you're my coworker and you crave something with icing or without peanut butter, let me know! (I'll likely be bringing extras in to work still...). Or perhaps you'd like me to invent the first ever healthy chocolate cake (I can try!). January is always a time for something new, so I'm willing to look outside my traditional staples of AllRecipes.com and the cookbooks on my shelf to get input from new, fun, exciting sources that only you can provide!
If I get any responses to this post (I'm putting it out on Facebook as well), I'll choose the one that I have the most ingredients for, and do my best to create and blog about it before the month is over. If I don't get any responses (le sigh) I'll just post my own doodles of baked goods like these...
...until inspiration chooses to strike me randomly.
Then come February it will be time for chocolate again. A twist on chocolate, perhaps. Maybe that healthy chocolate cake?
I just hope my own resolution to regularly exercise will help me keep my resolution to not gain weight in the face of my resolution to actually blog (and thus bake) even more this year!
Either way, 2012 is going to smell amazing! Yes, I do love saying that phrase.
I think you should start pinning baked goodies on Pinterest! I have seen so many delicious things on there, and they all need to get made.
ReplyDeleteSo that's my two cents :)