Giving-up on baking
As things like lifestyle and circumstances change, I've had to discard many of the hobbies or interests I've picked-up along the way. It's always a bit sad to throw these things by the wayside or put certain others on hold as I make room for the things I want to do or focus on, but if you want to be good at anything, you can't be good at everything.
For example, some things I've given-up:
- origami
- model planes (the glue-together kind)
- rollerblading
- biking
And some other things I've put on a long hiatus:
- piano
- sketch drawing
- and a certain game programming project
Soon, the list-of-things-I've-given-up will grow by 1, and the thing joining that list: baking.
Baking was always a talent from my mother's side: weekly she'd bake something often for her afternoon teas or something my brother and I could use for breakfast, and just as often she'd bake more delicious things, like a cake, simply for the hell of it.
It's something I've picked-up from her and have always been alright at (just alright, no more) as all I see it as is the process of following instructions with a little bit of artistic flair - things I'm both good at. But recently, I've been discouraged from the art. You know that saying "too many cooks in the kitchen"? Well, amongst the people I know, there are too many baking gods and goddesses to compete with.
---
First and foremost: amazing-baking girl, who I've mentioned a few times in this blog, is a force to be reckoned with. Her kitchen is lined with jars of truffles and, for some parties, tiny Chinese takeaway boxes full of little treats inside. Raw ingredients overflow from the kitchen counters that, despite their combined surface area, lack the necessary room to hold everything.
Remember that saying about how to never trust a skinny chef? Well, amazing-baking girl would be the dessert equivalent of that saying; she's diabetic. Talk about irony.
Next up: Melissa, aka: hug nazi, who I've also mentioned many times in previous blog posts, is the loose inspiration for one of my story e-mails, and is credited as the photographer to my McDonalds chicken burger review.
I don't know what did it, but she's decided to walk the path of the housewife/homemaker, and in doing so has had several opportunities in recent memory to show-off her new-found skills. These include, a Cookie Monster birthday cake, a Hogwarts spellbook birthday cake, and tiny hamburger cupcakes. "Hamburger what?" I hear you say? Well, I'll let the photos do the talking:
And the final nail in the coffin? A few Facebook photo albums from fellow ceroc'ers showing creativity and baking talent flourish amongst them too:
Upon seeing those last 2, I thought, Fuck it! I'm done with baking! Too many wonderful sugary treats to compete with - I'm hanging-up my piping bag. I can't do this anymore.
---
Thus ends the story of my short-lived baking career path. The most spectacular baking thing I ever did? A Black Forest Gateau. Unfortunately I don't have any pics of it (like I've said elsewhere: I have no digital camera of my own), but here's what I gleamed from the internet, which sorta looked like what I made:
