A New Hobby

My second cousin My in Texas, who is my age, is the mother of a toddler, works full time, attends grad school for her MBA, plays the piano, has 4+ dogs, takes photography classes, and runs an online bakery!

So it shouldn't be much of a wonder that I feel the need to pick up a new hobby :) Especially during these more boring winter months.

With the inspiration of My and after my faltered attempts of baking during Gourmet Dinner Club, I decided it was time I learned to properly bake. After all, with Michael quickly becoming quite the cook, what did I have to contribute in the kitchen (besides clean dishes)?

As a kid, I tried my hand at baking, if you call Jello's No-Bake Oreo Cream Pie "baking." I've also attempted to make brownies and cookies a few times, but always with the help of Duncan Hines or Betty Crocker. At the time, I didn't even know there was a difference between baking from scratch and baking with pre-mixed packages - wasn't adding an egg to them enough?!

So to begin my endeavor, I decided I needed a mixer. After hearing from Kathy that I'd need a stand up mixer, preferably the KitchenAid one, I thought, Shoot, I have to have it! For those of you that don't know, I feel the need to have any and all possible equipment before taking on new hobbies :) Take for instance...

Exhibit A: my snowboard
Exhibit B: my softball cleats
Exhibit C: my shin guards and soccer cleats
Exhibit D: my $500 golf clubs (and that does not include any woods)
Exhibit E: my $99/month gym membership in New York... to support my $80/hr personal trainer. Oiiiiii, I regretted that one.

So barring my snowboard (which I now no longer have an interest for) and maybe my golf clubs, everything else has gone virtually unused. So I can certainly understand as my friends and family looked at me with a hesitant eye when I exclaimed I wanted to spend $300 on a stand-up mixer! My friend Tram (bless her) wasn't even sure I should spend $40 on a hand-mixer, much less anything more!

But after I wouldn't shut up about it, Michael went and surprised me with one last week. Woohoo!!! He also bought me all the basic pans and this totally awesome Martha Stewart recipe book (corny I know), but it's great for beginners and experts alike and it has a super helpful section on basic baking techniques. I love it!

Thus, I'm gonna' bake at least one recipe out of that book every week! They say if you tell people about your goals, you are more likely to accomplish them (since you don't want to disappoint anyone). And already, I've used it twice yesterday - a simple oatmeal raisin cookie and pumpkin bread recipe. Sorry, no pictures since my next task is to learn to take better pictures of food :)