Baked.

Baking is incredible. Every time I bake something new, I find it more intriguing. Combining ingredients that seem to make no sense together, but with a little bit of mixing, a hot temperature, and wait for a bit…voilà! You have something completely deliciously different!
Maybe it comes from my hidden love for science…hmm, well maybe not, unless it is very deeply hidden… I do find an aspect of baking that reminds me of high school chemistry class, measuring out each ingredient, mixing, and observing. It is not quite the bangs and whistles that Bill Nye offered (I think I am dating myself here…) But, it there is something to say about seeing the transformation of a product you are creating and learning to make those perfections with each attempt at it.

Or maybe it is about getting back to being a kid…this is the one that seems more likely! Isn’t there apart of us all that wants to go back and play in the dirt, create those cauldrons of grubs and leaves in the ground, and make mud pies? Baking, in some ways, offers an acceptable way to get your hand dirty again. (Seriously, half the reason I bake anything is to make a bit of a mess—and lick the bowl!) I was once told, after asking someone if they wanted to help me put the cookies I was making on the pan, “no, I don’t really like to get my hands dirty.” I couldn’t really believe it! How does one not like to get their hands dirty, it’s my favorite part! And not mention this is sugar, flour, eggs, and chocolate that we’re talking about, which can hardly qualifies as “dirty”—especially if you enjoy licking it off. (Wow, that’s what she said…)

I think in overall, baking has an element of mystery and excitement that I don’t always get when I am cooking. Cooking, on a stovetop or whatever manner you prefer, you have the opportunity to see the product along the way, taste as you go, and make alterations as needed. With baking, you do your thing, put it in the oven, and hope you it will work out.

And sometimes it doesn’t. I am constantly burning batches of cookies, forgetting about the bread in the oven or realizing a key ingredient was forgotten (like flour…oops, that was a bad one) after it is too late. And that’s all part of the fun, or maybe not necessarily the fun—but it certainly makes those times when something comes out looking, smelling and tasting perfectly baked.

And with that, I better run and check on that bread in the oven…