Baking Blogs

Lately I’ve gotten into following a few blogs about baking. They all tend to take a recipe and adjust it based on healthiness, ability or what ingredients they have on hand. To be completely honest, I look at the healthy one, but I never actually make anything from her blog since she uses a lot of ingredients I’ve never heard of. There is one that I enjoy looking at simply because the things she does are so complex. For at least half her recipes, I start to lose interest as soon as I see that the list of ingredients is as tall as I am. The third one does a lot of baking, nothing too complicated, and takes it into work. That’s my kind of baking/cooking.

What I originally thought was so interesting about these blogs is that these girls weren’t afraid to experiment with their baking or cooking. I kept thinking that I wished I was gusty enough to try that. And then I realized I already did to some extent.

In general, I am a rule follower. But there are a number of things in life that I don’t necessarily care for and so I change them to suit me. Piano music for example. I used to drive one piano teacher nuts because I’d always deviate from the music and change it so that I liked the ending better than the way it was written. Another one I discovered is recipes.

I enjoy cooking and baking, but I am also a picky eater so I frequently find myself substituting things I will eat for whatever the recipe actually calls for. I made a chicken casserole that was supposed to have mushrooms in it. I used peppers and onions instead. Or sometimes I’m supposed to use one kind of seasoning, only I don’t have any in the cupboard. So then I just throw something similar in. And in my eyes, all kinds of chips be them chocolate, butterscotch, peanut butter, etc. are all interchangeable in almost every recipe there is.

It didn’t hit me that I did this until this weekend when I was cooking and baking for some friends who have a brand new baby. I really wanted to go visit Ruby Rae, but didn’t want to show up empty handed. Especially since these friends feed me fairly often. I already knew I was terrible about properly measuring things, but then I started adding or changing the ingredients based on what I had on hand. And it all ended up tasting delicious. (Eating the cookies, aka quality control, is a necessity when baking.) Ruby’s parents were quite pleased, which is what really mattered.

I’ve given some thought to blogging about the recipes I try, but then I remembered I’m not good about keeping up with the blog I already have. Instead I’ve opted for making notes on the recipes so I know whether or not it’s worth making again. The cookies I made this weekend were good but not great. The casserole called for twice as much butter as was actually needed.

The great thing about baking blogs is not only do they have the recipes, they tend to include step by step pictures and discuss what worked and what didn’t. So much more useful than a plain old cookbook. Thank you baking bloggers for sharing your experiences. Your recipes and notes make my own kitchen much more approachable!