Baking as a Love Language


When I was a kid I used to get home from school, do my homework, and then bake something for my mom and me. My bible was an old blue Pillsbury cookbook (it's long lost its cover and I can't seem to find a replica online) that was filled with all kinds of recipes. It taught me how to bake cakes from scratch, how to make substitutions, and how to know instinctively what something should look and taste like (because there were no photos, and let's admit it, this was the late 1970s-early 80s and my palate was definitely at "expanding.") Because there were only two of us, though, we ate cookies or cake for days.

Fats forward. The past month my husband has been rigging a circus show every night. He comes home exhausted and snacky and wired up. So, since getting Dessert Cooking for Two, I've taken to surprising him with treats — double chocolate cookies, the "very best" chocolate chip cookies, caramel crumb bars, pear and coconut crisp — and all have both tasted delicious and been very well received. I love that they are quick and easy, that I can start them sometime in the beginning of the second act and that they are ready by the time he gets home, and sometimes there's even enough left over so that my daughter can have some for a sweet breakfast the next day. I appreciate the fact that the measuring is precise and most recipes are very easy, so it seems like no big deal to just whip something up. And I am loving trying new things!

If you want to bake and consume a whole pan of brownies at night, I cheer you on! But if you just want to try a fun new recipe that you know will taste good and that does not make you invest the rest of your night in preparing a delicious snack, this is the book for you.

(I got a free review copy of the book, but opinions are my own!)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Brutus

Image
In 2019, we were on our way back from spring break when Cheryl, who Beatrix had interned with at GiffyDog, reached out to us about fostering a pomeranian (since she knew Beatrix loved the breed). The day we got back, the person who had been fostering him brought him over. Brutus sauntered in, grabbed a rawhide as long as he was that Coya had been chewing, and settled in next to me in the chair. Patrick says "I knew at that point he was never leaving." And he didn't. He got the name "Brutus Brewpup" when, as we initially had him and thought we should expose him to people who might want to adopt him, we took him out to a taproom and found he LOVED it. Pretty soon, taking him to taprooms turned into a regular pastime. But he liked other things too. He loved Christmas: And Halloween: And springtime: And snow, especially the first snowfall: And really winter in general: He loved to go up to the cabin (and I'm so glad we got to go up this last weekend): And to sun...
Read more

Choosing Happy

Image
This post is brought to you by a few thoughts from yesterday: First and foremost, Patrick's new book that he wrote for Beatrix for her sixteenth birthday. Available for a hot second before we leave for spring break tomorrow. The response of someone he knows on the internet, who wrote yesterday that he had decided years ago that he would never be happy (and reading his posts, he seems to be right.). It was one of the saddest things I've encountered in a long time. A friend's social media post, in which she discusses another person's comment of " I really think a sizable proportion of the population has become addicted to being angry" with the sage response of " I think a lot of them are doing it because it's more enjoyable to be angry than to be depressed." A nd we finally finished watching this season's Fargo last night. I won't give any spoilers, but it's extremely on theme with this post. So this is the deal. There's a lot on ...
Read more

New Year's Eve 2023

Image
I did not want to be laying in bed, wearing a fleece onesie and still shivering, while my husband and daughter headed out to the several wonderful NYE parties we have planned. I have a beautiful new dress that I got in Duluth for tonight, and was looking forward to the collection of friends we would be seeing. Our friend Whitney in particular is throwing the last party at her B and B, and it's breaking my heart not to go. But I feel logey and coughy, and more to the point, I have a low fever, and I don't want to mess around with possibly getting anyone sick. I'm still holding out hope that I'll miraculously feel better and the fever was a mistaken reading, but I doubt that. And I feel lucky to have 3 sets of people who want me in their lives tonight and who I don't want to get sick. As our yoga teacher Viv says, it's not like a page turns and everything is magic. You get some things that are good, and some that are not, and life is living in the middle. -- In 20...
Read more