I like to take things that people say, even just once in passing, and mull them around in my brain, sometimes for years. One time - it could have been 10 years ago or more - a particularly opinionated member of my book club said something to the effect of people either like cooking or they like baking but they do not like both. At the time I thought, I must be an oddball then. I like both baking and cooking much as I enjoyed both my creative writing and language classes, as well as my math classes. Each stimulates different parts of my brain and personality.
Baking requires precision in measuring and following directions whereas cooking allows for some flexibility and adjustment for taste preferences. You can cook "on the fly" and mix up something for dinner with some seemingly mismatched ingredients and a little improvisation. If you were to try baking the same way, using approximate measurements and substituting ingredients with what you have vs. what the recipe calls for, a cake or some bread may be produced but it might not have the desired texture or taste. You cannot, for example, use about the right amount of flour, or substitute baking soda for baking powder in equal parts (I know - even the dog wouldn't eat the baking SODA biscuits I once made). You can use handfuls vs. pinches of cheese and substitute chicken for ground beef and still come up with a tasty meal.
Baking produces all manner of sweet treats, which I LOVE. I like that it is precise and that there is science behind it, like math. The right temperature of water activates the yeast and the yeast interacts with the sugar and makes the bread airy. There is a correct way of doing it with predictable results. Cooking lets me improvise and use what I have and a little knowledge of what kind of ingredients taste great together. Cooking is like writing a poem or an essay - try this word here and a sprinkle of that phrase there. Even if it is not exactly what you thought it would be, it is almost always palatable, though perhaps not something you would try again.
Reflecting on the book club friend's statement, and knowing her better now than I did back then, I believe she likes cooking, not baking, and is inclined to project her preferences as truths for others as well. And probably I am a little odd, as well.
I started this post a week ago, then didn't finish because I was having trouble figuring out what I wanted to say, plus I may have used up my creative allotment for the weekend with scrapbooking. I had every intention of finishing on Monday but the workweek was, to put it nicely, a crapshow. I was supposed to be spending most of Monday-Wednesday at a virtual conference but ended up putting in long hours putting out a fire and then dealing with all the "feedback" related to that. I did learn some interesting things at the conference and am happy to have 40+ days to be able to re-watch sessions I was not as attentive as I would have liked to have been and to watch other sessions that ran concurrently to the ones I attended. Here I am now with a book review, 2 new recipes, a couple of the scrap book pages completed, and a shot of the red baby alpaca triangle scarf.
Book 15
I love Tom Hanks, just absolutely adore him and I have for a very long time. Once, more than 20 years ago, my sister made me a Tom Hanks collage with a million pictures, big and tiny, of Tom in various roles (including Woody from Toy Story). The man could read the dictionary, and I would buy a ticket to watch. I think he is funny and smart and entertaining. He has played a wide array of roles since I have been watching back in the Bosom Buddies and Splash days. All this is just to say that now I have read his book of short stories Uncommon Type. It was... pretty good. Some of the stories I liked better than others, as with most short story collections. And I enjoyed reading to see when and how a typewriter would figure into almost all of the stories. He has some fun and original ideas and characters, and the writing style was engaging. I don't think I need to own this book (I got it at the library) nor read it again, but I am glad I read it.
Recipes 15 and 16 - File these under "sometimes you need a drink"
It is E's birthday weekend. He started it off on Thursday night with some of his delicious homemade guacamole and fresh baked chips, plus margaritas. The margs were new-to-us recipe, so I will share it with you here:
Original Margaritas
1 oz Cointreau
2 oz blanco tequila
1 oz fresh lime juice
Combine all in a shaker, add ice, and shake. Pour into a salt-rimmed margarita or rocks glass.
The next drink was his birthday dinner "signature drink" and was a secret from me, other than that it contained vodka and pineapple juice, and that we may have had it at a martini tasting on a cruise. Considering that we have been to multiple martini tastings (and none for the past 5 years or so), I couldn't think of which drink it would be. It turned out to be a lovely pinkish colored "French Martini" and we are also now proud owners of a beautiful bottle of Chambord. This was a fresh and fruity martini and would taste delicious on the deck in the summer.
French Martini
2 oz vodka
1 oz pineapple juice
1/4 oz Chambord raspberry liqueur
Combine all in a shaker, add ice, and shake. Pour into a martini glass.
These recipes may be a little bit of a cheat for me since I am the baker and the cook but not the bartender/mixologist at my house. Try them and see if you can forgive me.
Scrapbooking
I spent a Friday evening in a Zoom craft time and completed a whopping one page. Since my table and supplies were all dragged out and set up, I continued on my own Saturday and Sunday. 7 pages completed that weekend, finishing the 2014 Glacier/Yellowstone trip. Then I made some cards. Here are 2 of my pages made.
Knitting
A little scarf I made for myself. It was a pretty easy (Free!) pattern I found
here. I didn't care for all the blah blah blah repetitiveness of the blog and the 12 million pop-up ads before the pattern, but I guess that is the price you pay for a free pattern. I used the idea behind it and adapted for how I wanted it to look. Basically - start with 1 stitch. At each row (except the rows you do a drop stitch pattern), yarn over (YO) and knit across. Occasionally throw in a drop stitch pattern section
Row 1 - Insert needle into first stitch knit-wise. Wrap yarn around needle two times then pull yarn through as if to knit. Repeat this with each stitch across the row.
Row 2 Knit the 1st knit stitch, slide the yarn overs off the needle and continue to knit each knit stitch, sliding the yarn overs off the needle across the row.
The pattern lady says to do this 4 times but I didn't like how it looked when I did it just 2 times in a row so I had 1 time every few inches.
You continue until about 42" across or until you run out of yarn. Towards the end, I measured my yarn before and after a row to guesstimate how many rows I could knit before binding off so I wouldn't be caught without enough yarn. It was a good trick and I ended up with about a foot of yarn to spare.
Fifty for 50 Tally
Books completed – 15 (7 more in progress)
Recipes tried – 16
Blog posts published– 16
Miles walked in April - 37.25
Miles walked year-to-date –166.21
Scrap book pages completed –19
Hats donated – 20
Hours volunteered – 0
Until we read again,
Hallie
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