Not To Be Dramatic, But I Think Baking Changed My Life
I’m not sure when exactly it happened, but over time my husband became the sole cook and baker in our household. In the early years of marriage, we used to share the responsibilities of making food for each other. However, somewhere along the line, I faded out of that equation.
My husband is gluten-free, so between his need for certain ingredients and cooking processes, and myself being busy chasing two kids around the house, he started cooking and meal-prepping for the family while I watched the kids.
Over time, I unconsciously began to label myself as “not a cook.” After all, I wasn’t cooking! I was eating healthy and balanced home-cooked meals and delicious baked goods, but it wasn’t me that was making them.
My husband was the cook and also being gluten-free, he was missing a good quality cookie! With all his practice in the kitchen, he was able to develop the perfect gluten-free sugar drop cookie recipe and made them for friends and family often.
Everyone always loved the cookies and could not believe they were gluten-free! We got several comments from people saying, “You should sell these!”
We played around with the idea of selling them, but during the school year, we could not figure out how to realistically manage it….
Then, summertime rolled around and an idea came to me! I am a teacher and we still have two kids enrolled in daycare for the summer, so essentially, I was free and fully available for two months.
I said to my husband, “Maybe I can take over baking the cookies this summer while the girls are at school, and try selling them!”
“Sure,” he said.
Hmm. He didn’t doubt that I could do it, even though I honestly hadn’t baked in years. Let’s do it!
I instructed my husband to leave me the recipe with EXPLICIT directions on how to bake the cookies.
Since I had not made my way around the kitchen in so long, I was honestly skeptical if I could pull it off, but I just went through the recipe slowly and followed all the directions to a T.
My first batch came out beautifully.
This was the beginning of my baking journey. I was reignited with satisfaction for being in the kitchen. As I made batch after batch of cookies, I began experiencing something I RARELY experienced in my education career, which was, as long as I followed the directions…
…every batch came out the same.
In education, I could execute the same lesson or strategy year after year, and the result would not be the same for each class of students. When encountering a problem in education, I might recommend for a teacher to try this or that, knowing that the result might not play out exactly right, that teacher may have to try something else to get the result they want.
With baking, I was experiencing something completely different than that, and it was SO satisfying. With baking, as long as I was following the directions correctly, my cookies were coming out perfectly batch after batch. Honestly, at first, I could not believe it! I was not used to this consistency and reliability in my life at all. The consistency of the cookies gave me all the confidence and enthusiasm I needed to not only continue pumping out cookies but also begin experimenting and brainstorming with ideas for cookie toppings, flavors, fillings, icings, colors, and more!
Another element of this process was selling the cookies. I developed a logo, brand colors, a menu, and a social media presence! Not only was baking the cookies and creating recipes fun for me but so was marketing our cookies!
The whole process felt so creative. I have always been creative, but in the past few years of busy motherhood, I have not been truly tapping into many creative outlets.
Not to be dramatic, but baking cookies changed my life. Baking cookies gives me something to look forward to. It is therapeutic for me to go through the motions of combining wet ingredients, then dry ingredients, forming cookie dough balls, arranging them on parchment paper perfectly, and baking them in the oven just the right way for just the right amount of time, and revealing the perfect cookie every time. Baking cookies gave me back my confidence in the kitchen. It gives me a way to provide something delicious for people I love, or for a gluten-free individual who wants to eat a cookie without feeling sick.
