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So Who Do I Think I Am, Anyways?

A bowl of dough proofing under a tea towel, embroidered with an elegant capital "B" letter.
Ha! You thought this would be a pic of me. You might catch my hands, maybe even my voice if I start doing videos? But I will not be posting my face. Sorry!

Let’s get on thing out of the way immediately? I take my own pics, but I am NOT a photographer. A lot of you are saying, “Oh, no, we could tell…” and that’s not gonna change. You will always be able to tell. Love me for my recipes. Forgive me for my photos. Please.

NOW! I began baking (supervised, of course) around 5 or 6 years old (you’d have to ask that supervisor we just mentioned for specifics) with a bake through the alphabet type cookbook.

“T” is for Turtle Bread, in case you didn’t know.

From getting to scoop and level the flour in the measuring cup to getting to peel, cut, and core the apples and mix up the spices for our homemade apple pies was a long process.

But someone lovingly poured in the work to teach me everything she knew and to encourage me to learn more.

Then I met someone who could burn instant ramen. (Side note: I did that once too, so I can no longer tease said person) And I found out that not everyone had someone in their life to make that investment.

So Here I Am.

I do not want that to be a roadblock for people.

Baking is intimidating and can be confusing or frustrating. I am not a professional, just a home baker, but I’m happy to take the time to answer questions, help with confusion, figure out what might be where you went wrong this time.

I’ve been baking for over 30 years, now. Again, not a professional? But definitely happy to teach other people the things I’ve learned so far and take people with me when I try something new.

These are My recipes, after all. It goes with my approach to baking: read at least a dozen different recipes, write down what they all have in common (think baking temps/times, basic ingredients like flour and sugar, tips that are helpful) and then scrap the rest and make it how I want to! I take things like “Make sure you do *this* or your oatmeal cookies won’t be thin and crispy!” and write down for myself “Don’t do *this*. We’re making oatmeal cookies, not oatmeal crackers.” And you are more than welcome to do the same thing with my tips. Maybe you like thin and crispy oatmeal cookies? I want mine firm with plenty of give. Not exactly soft, but No crisp, thanks.

Sometimes I take the shortcut because I can. Sometimes I go the long way around because I don’t have that tool or because I want to do something the simple, hard work way. All of these things are allowed and okay and will still be delicious.

I’ve been in a place where I had to save up money just to get a tool on clearance. I’ve been in a different place where I could ask my partner for a new stand mixer for my birthday. I understand that just because you can “save a lot today!” doesn’t mean you can even afford the sale price. And I understand that if you have the ability to invest, why not?

I’m gonna do my best to try and take as many people from as many walks of life with me all at the same time and hope everybody feels like family…at least from me.

I can’t answer every question, right? I’m not a doctor. I’m not an allergist. I’m not even a professional baker. Just here to do my best.

With Friendship,

B

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