9.10.2009

Why I Don't Bake: a Theory (a true one, at that)

Via Facebook and Twitter, I recently mentioned the Chardonnay Cake with Almond Sugar Crust made by the always-amazing Always Order Dessert; Apartment Therapy's The Kitchn had recently highlighted the cake on their page. Me being me, I added that this cake made me wish I baked. Which is true.

My friend Daphne responded with: "I think you insist you don't bake so that you won't feel required to do everything that interests you."

Well, damn. She got that right. I mean, aside from my lack of a sweet tooth, this is exactly why I don't bake. I love lemon poppyseed anything. I love the way it smells when it's baking. I love the way it looks, particularly when you get big flecks of lemon zest in between the black seeds. I love the way the seeds crackle when I bite them. I love the sweetness, sure, but there's also something savory about it too. In my mind, lemon and poppyseed is one of life's most sublime pairings.


All this love and passion...and just ask me if I've ever actually baked anything lemon or poppyseed... And then comes the big why? Or why not?

All of you who cook and bake, do you feel the same way? I mean, we can't go chasing after every single thing, right? There aren't enough hours in the day, particularly for those of us who have non-food full-time jobs, right? So how do you narrow it down?

NOTE: The image is from Picky Cook's heavenly blog post on Lemon Poppyseed Muffins with Lemon Glaze. You'll understand my love after reading this - her photos are stunning.

4 comments:

Susan said...

Wow. The lemon-poppyseed muffins look awesome. I bake. A little. Just like I cook. A little. Talk about food, though? A LOT. A couple of years ago I went through a bread-baking phase. I felt so virtuous.

Give or Take a Little said...

I love to bake! I find it very hard to screw up baked goods and very satisfying to create them. In fact, the cookies I brought to work today brought great joy to my colleagues AND I received a nearly-genuine marriage proposal. Cooking meat, though? Very intimidated.

picky cook said...

Hey thanks for the kind words! You can totally bake - these muffins are really easy and forgiving. The first time I made them I forgot the lemon juice and they turned out just fine. Let me know how they go if you make them!

lori! said...

Being the non-foodie here, I find Daphne's comment totally intriguing, because I think it applies to more than just the demands of all the delicious food out there begging to be made. Everyone has to have something in their lives that they find fascinating that they don't do, because, hell, who has time to do everything? But your question about narrowing it down is totally spot on. How do we choose what we spend our time doing and what we just watch from the sidelines? (Check me out, being all philosophical. Way to have the deep blogpost, dude.) :)