Baking Does More Than Just Fill Our Stomachs…

Baking is more than just something that can help stop your hunger cravings, it is a hobby, passion or career that serves more than just filling your belly. Research has shown that baking is good for one’s well-being and it can even help the development of children! The fact it is good for mindfulness is probably one reason why at the start of the pandemic there was a resurgence in the interest of baking, which lead to a shortage in flour! I strongly believe that this renewed interest helped many people, as it gave them a sense of control as the world slowly started crumbling from COVID (bbc.com). In today’s fast paced and pandemic stricken world, baking is a way to bond with your family or others and it can help raise spirits by letting someone be able to focus on one small task and fulfill it to the best of their ability. 

Research shows that baking is a creative process and form of expression! For example, according to smithsonianmag.org It explains how baking or cooking can become a “cure” for stress or feeling blue for people. As the article states, a study has shown small creative tasks each day may make people feel better and which can go a long way to improving their overall well-being. Considering there’s also studies that show dark chocolate can raise feelings of happiness, one might say baking that chocolate cake for no specific reason is not such a bad idea after all ;). Also, while many would caution that baking isn’t a full-on cure for mental illness, it is still something to explore because it could make you feel more relaxed or happier through the day! Even if you mess up your recipe, it’s a great learning experience and will help you perfect the next creation

Also, most people likely remember the stories of the shortage of toilet paper early on in 2020, but there was soon also the shortage of flour. It didn’t take long after people were forced into lockdown that they started to explore old fashioned crafts and activities. This was to fight their boredom and to distract themselves but also it was a welcome break from the huge jump in the time they were spending on their digital devices. Everyone was suddenly finding themselves spending most of their day on-line. It didn’t take long for people, especially families to realize the negative impact from technology and that this was not good for us, especially for the children (social development, attention span, even physical health).

Besides giving yourself a break from the screen, baking can help build stronger connections between loved ones. Who doesn’t remember a fond memory of baking with a parent in the kitchen when they were young and getting to lick the bowl or spoon, or maybe sneaking a few chocolate chips? When we think of holiday time, one of the first things we think of is all the tasty eats we will get to make and enjoy. Culturally, food brings people together such as during festivals, celebrations and reunions.  

Overall, the message here is that baking is very universal and is another outlet to express one’s creativity. People use it to communicate their appreciation, to connect with others and to help themselves escape from their busy day to day lives. It is something that can be as easy or as challenging as one would like, so it is easily customizable and doesn’t require heaps of money to enjoy it to its fullest. In fact, it’s highly likely you have all the ingredients on hand for this easy banana bread recipe:

If you couldn’t read that here is a typed out version:  My Grandpa’s Banana Bread

 

My Future Cookbook?!

Designing my future cookbook cover…! (Probably will be totally different if I ever make one, but that doesn’t matter)

Want to see how it turned out?? Well, look down below!

 

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Wow, isn’t it lovely? 🥲

This photo happened to be my 57th photo, out of 60 attempts after trying 6 different locations (yea, I decided to count). It is definitely, completely different than my original idea. My first idea seemed like it was going to work perfectly fine… but that didn’t happen:

What I was visualizing:if you couldn’t tell by this masterpiece (drawn on Sketches Pro) I was trying to show the creative process of baking and the ideas coming out of the cookbooks.

What happened:

Next, I tried to focus on a baked good to try and capture the viewer’s attention and maybe make them want to try to bake it or make them hungry. Here are some of my photos during my trial and error: 

As shown in the slideshow I tried many different angles since the lighting in my house was not ideal.

After picking the photos I was possibly going to use I went to Canva. My new plan I had was to try and make it look like a magazine cover. Then, I thought why not a cookbook cover, But I had no clue what to name it. Eventually I ended up with “Simple-icious,” and it took forever to figure out how I should spell it and auto correct was not helping.

I needed to add some more pizazz to my cover so I tried adding “stickers” like the rolling pin and stand mixer. I had originally chosen to put leaves but when I asked for feedback from my dad he said, “What the heck do leaves have to do with baking?”, so I changed them to baking related items, I’m still not sure what I like more though.

After adding text I ended up with that beautiful cover for my cookbook that I will totally make in around 20 years…

Once again thank you for reading!

 

 

7 facts you may not know about baking…

Here are seven things you might not know about baking (plus one extra) :D.

First off, let’s start with where baking began…

1. You may think it’s some random person you have never heard of, but actually the Ancient Egyptians were the first to ever bake something. They baked bread using yeast that had previously been used to brew beer.

2. Secondly, the classic chocolate chip cookie was created by a mistake. Ruth Wakefield added broken pieces of chocolate bars to her dough because she thought they would melt. Instead they stayed in their shape and created the iconic cookie.

3. After some research I’ve found that some of the most popular Canadian deserts are…

BeaverTail 

Nanaimo Bar 

Flapper Pie 

Butter Tart 

Saskatoon Berry Pie 

4. France is known for its baking, and its most famous desert is the crème brûlée.

5. There are some weird cupcake flavours like: banana bacon, rosemary olive oil, chicken and waffle, liquorice, and more.

6. Macarons are the most popular sweet sold in Paris, France. They are often given out as a dinner party gift (I would assume when there was no covid).

7. America’s most popular pie is apple pie and it originated in England in the year 1318. 

Here is an extra fact:

Betty Crocker…

isn’t real :0

It’s crazy that baking has been around for such a long time, and seeing all the baking (also cooking) shows that are now on TV, it seems like it will keep going strong for many more. I hope you have learned something new while reading this. Have a good day!

 

“A Balanced Diet Is A Cookie In Each Hand” – Barbara Johnson

Here is my very dramatic backstory of how I got into baking.

So…

It all started with cookies and two young children.

My friend and I were visiting Burnaby Village museum, at Christmastime (when we were 10 or 11) , when we went into a 1920’s era house. Inside, a woman was baking ginger sparkle cookies. Obviously, we waited to get some and they tasted delicious and smelled amazing. We were able to get the recipe for the cookies and we (my friend and I) decided to try and make them the very next day.

At first, things were going good but then we learned our first lesson…..always make sure you have all ingredients before starting. When we were partway through we found out we had no ground ginger, but luckily using real ginger worked out just fine. And they looked great! After making 68 cookies (we made them too small) we “fell in love” with baking.

Eventually, after making a lot of cookies I tried scones, muffins, cupcakes and cakes. Soon enough, my mother asked me to slow down or try making something savoury. It was too tempting for her to eat all of my baking. I had no interest in cooking (besides tacos), but I was interested in trying homemade bread. Nothing beats a warm piece of bread fresh out of the oven with melted butter…. (I ate a whole loaf)

My Ode To Bread (haiku form)

Oh so delicious

I would like seven loaves please

Bread is really good

– written by Kira

Super amazing I know

Oh yea here is the recipe if you want to make them:

Anyhoo, enough about that  stuff. Here is what I will be blogging about for the next few weeks

Food!

As much as I would love to just blog about food I will be doing it about different baking “categories” so… stay tuned.

Before you go here is one last quote: “You can’t buy happiness but you can buy cake and thats kind of the same thing”- *insert creator*

Sayonara

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