Archive for June, 2009
17 and Baking Makes Some Dough – Lemon-Thyme Shortbread Hearts
“17 and Baking Makes Some Dough,” and I don’t mean dough in the literal sense. I mean that I just did my first paid order. And it was pretty sweet. Bad puns all over the place, I know. I can’t resist, sorry!
A girl from my school wanted cookies for her mother’s birthday, and she offered to buy them! A floaty, unexpected feeling washed over me as I told my parents I’d gotten my first paid order. It felt like the start of something new.
I remember the first “real” cake that I baked – you know, not from a mix or anything. It was a sponge cake with golden raisins and when it came out of the oven, I couldn’t believe that it looked just like the picture! I was so proud and ate the whole thing.
Of course, looking back, I can see all the mistakes. I didn’t know that the butter had to be at room temperature. The cake was uneven and the frosting didn’t come together properly. But I didn’t know any of that at the time, and felt pretty good about myself!
I’ve often thought about baking that cake again, just to see how far I’ve come.
When I bought that cake cookbook from Costco for the pretty photographs, I never dreamed that one day I might actually make money from baking or that people would know me as the girl who likes to bake. Thinking about that first cake I made, it’s incredible to see how much I’ve learned at this point. It makes me anticipate all that I have yet to learn and the happiness I’ll get as I tackle even fancier and trickier baked goods.
It’s only been three years since I became interested in baking. Who knows what the next three years will bring?
Baking has been a learning experience, from my first real baking disaster (during which I actually sat on the kitchen floor and cried,) to the first time I brought cookies to school, to my first Daring Bakers entry. And this simple batch of shortbread proved to be another landmark in my baking career.
My client (!) asked for shortbread but left the flavor up to me. The sun has been good to our little herb garden, so I decided to use our Lemon Thyme in my shortbread. Then I found these cute little heart cookie cutters… and Lemon-Thyme Shortbread Hearts were born.
Blueberry Coconut Cream Scones
Ah, summer… It’s filtered into everything, even school. I spend at least two periods a day outside, because even my teachers can’t stand being cooped up. We watch movies and do creative projects instead of textbook assignments, and I have never been so relaxed or felt so free.
Summer means reading lazily in the softest, greenest patch of grass.
Playing the radio as loudly as possible so I can sing along without being heard by the neighbors.
Picking fresh, full leaves of basil that beg to become fragrant green ice cream (coming soon, I promise.)
Summer means walking into the dusk in a short sleeved shirt, stargazing right on the cool driveway, and tucking plastic yellow sunglasses in my bag wherever I go.
It’s an energy that I have tried to capture in a photograph all week. But there are no words or pictures that can convey the feeling – I’ve learned to put down the camera and simply breathe in the sun.
Even in Seattle, summer means heat. It’s almost too much – for me, the ideal day is 65 degrees. With a gentle breeze. And a slightly overcast sky. Still, I can’t resist the hazy summer heat and find myself in the backyard more than the house. But nothing can keep me away from the kitchen for long, and sure enough, I’m still baking away.
Oh, I am so lucky to be in love! With summer, with photography, with sugar, with my family. I hope you are all as happy and in love with life as I am at this very moment.
We had our first dinner outside last week. The day was so utterly lovely that we threw open every window and dusted off the old glass table. We passed around fruit salad and chicken, grilled with herbs grown in our own garden. We talked until twilight fell, and found that there is nothing quite like concluding a meal with lavender ice cream in sugar cones.
But first, we started the day with Blueberry Coconut Cream Scones.
17 and Baking 