Cooking and Baking Literally got me through 2020

Think of two or more compliments you’ve received in the past that you’ve treasured, and write them down. Then write at least one full page of ways you’ve demonstrated that those compliments are indeed true statements about you.

My cousin Elizabeth and my best friend Diana often compliment my cooking skills and regard me as a great cook. I pride myself on cooking consistently delicious food and mixing things up a bit as I go. I usually don’t measure out spices and ingredients perfectly, more or less by sight. I challenge myself often to try new recipes I find online and tweak them to my liking. Towards the end of 2019, I fell in love with the process of making sourdough bread. I loved the idea of making such a delicious and healthful bread with just 3 ingredients. It really opened up my repertoire in baking. I started making several loaves a week, even giving them out to my friends and neighbors. Then I started making sweet breads, white bread, wheat bread, and bagels.

I was craving donuts, so I made a batch of old fashioned donuts with a ganache frosting. I put a touch of nutmeg in the dough. They were crunchy on the outside and moist and flavorful on the inside. My neighbors loved them just as much as I did. A few weeks later I decided to take that up a notch with homemade vanilla custard filled doughnuts, and cinnamon sugar donut holes. I used to love the donut holes covered in Cinnamon sugar from the Del Mar Fair while I was a kid. I loved watching the donuts flip out of the oil and into the cinnamon sugar. They were the best fresh out of the machine. Mine were just as good as those were. My uncle used to take me to a donut shop in North Park (San Diego) when I was a little. We always got the custard filled donuts with chocolate frosting. It was my favorite thing to do with Chris. The custard I made was perfect, I couldn’t have made it any better unless I had actual vanilla beans. The chocolate ganache frosting was much better than the standard chocolate frosting you normally get in a donut shop. I made a double batch of both of those so I could give some away. One of our local businesses got a box of both custard and cinnamon sugar holes. I took a large pan to nearby grocery store I used to work at and a special box for a friend who had their birthday that day. We also stopped by my daughter's best friend's house to drop off some for their family. I can’t tell you how many people were texting me to tell me they were so happy to have my donuts.

I nearly started a baking business from home with all the excitement. I was baking bagels for locals, Asiago Cheese and Creole Mustard big boys. I did raisin bread, cinnamon bread, orange cream swirl, dark chocolate swirl, orange chocolate swirl. I made Cheddar Sourdough, Roasted Garlic Sourdough, Fresh Rosemary Sourdough and Sheepherders Bread.

I had my eye on a job in town, where we were living at the time. I asked my husband to find out what the boss liked to eat. It just so happened, he said tacos were his favorite. I decided to make from scratch barbacoa, pickled cabbage, fresh tortillas, and pico de gallo with jalapeno peppers. That meal was a hit with the entire office, the boss said they were the best tortillas he’d ever had. I was asked to make a cannabis infused meal with 1000mg butter they had received from a vendor. I made infused creamy potato soup, infused mac and cheese with roasted jalapeno peppers, cheddar, Monterey jack, smoked Gouda, and heavy cream. My husband made an infused Katsu sauce for shrimp skewers and I made infused dark chocolate lemon bars for dessert. Everyone devoured all the food I brought. It was probably the best infused meal I had ever had and several from the dispensary thought so too. I truly believe I got that job (even if short-lived) because I was a great cook. And, if the pandemic wouldn’t have happened, I suppose I probably would have started that business and been pretty successful in the Delta.

As for the second compliment, well that will have to wait for another entry. Perhaps, I could go into my skills in Photoshop or excel spreadsheets, but you’d probably more likely want to hear about blowjobs 😉

Cheers 🍻