Macaroons might have been the death of me.

After one successful macaroon attempt, I figured the rest would follow suite after that.

Sooo not the case.

I've made three batches of macaroons since then, and only about 1/4 of them turned out. Some were missing their feet, others were chewy and others were burnt. I was using the same recipe every time, but for some reason, they turned out differently each time. It was such a frustrating experience!

After much agonizing about what went wrong and how to fix it, I just decided those cute, quaint little treats were just not worth my time and energy. Now, some might call this quitting, but I'd like to think I'm just moving on to another, more rewarding part of this hobby of mine ;)

Doug (after watching me throw up my hands in disgust over the macaroons) bought me a new cookbook for my birthday last week. It's pretty much amazing! Almost all of the recipes in it have food I'm not allergic to (did I ever mention that I have food allergies?!), are easy to follow, yummy, and the best part is... every step has a picture! Not just a little picture, but this is a full-color picture that shows you exactly what texture the batter should have at that stage! LOVE IT! It is exactly what this disheartened Baker (heehee) like me needed!

I immediately picked out a recipe that looked delicious and I had all of the ingredients for... peanut butter cupcakes with cream cheese frosting! Sooo yummy. The pictures helped immensely and the recipe was super easy to follow! It was my first time making cupcakes that weren't out of a box, and I think it was a success! They were peanut-butter-y, had a nice texture, and totally different than anything I had ever made before!

I was very excited that I had made something that, unlike the last few batches of macaroons, everyone really wanted to eat! I took them over a client meeting for D&D, and by the time the meeting was over, the cupcakes were gone. I'd say that's a pretty good sign. And a pretty good boost to my baking ego (which so badly needed it)!

Lesson learned: When something isn't working out the way you want it to, don't get discouraged and give up, just try a new approach!

Hobby #1- Baking.

This weekend was fully devoted to my first hobby- baking the macaroon!

It was this picture that originally spurred our interest in macaroons. After a few minutes of Googling, we (my fiance, Doug, and I) realized it wasn't a traditional macaroon, it is a French macaroon (nothing like it's American counterpart)! The ingredients are relatively simple and the instructions didn't look that difficult, so I tried out the first recipe I found.

Bad idea.

First lesson in trying out new hobbies- do your research first! I jumped in head first and got so over my head that I was almost ready to cry when my cookies turned into a horrible, sticky, gritty mess. Thankfully, Doug was there to give me a hug, help me clean up, and make me realize that failure is okay. (I should probably state here that I am a perfectionist. I like to be great at everything I do, the first time I do it ;))

So after more encouragement from Doug, we tried again today. It was a team effort, but they turned out amazingly! We tried a new, better, recipe this time. I've never followed the directions so closely! These cookies take precision, down to the number of strokes and type of stirring. I never thought I would get so excited to see "feet"!

This time around, the cookies looked the way they were supposed to and tasted 100x better! Everyone liked them so much, they're already gone. I'm pretty sure that's the true taste test!



It's amazing how something so simple can bring out so many emotions- from frustration to elation! I probably would have given up yesterday if it weren't for Doug's encouragement. I am so glad I did continue though, because I love the feeling of accomplishing something, and not just something for myself. Something that other people can join in with me and get enjoyment out of too!

Next stop... who knows yet? Ideas are welcomed!

Here we go..

After an interesting conversation with my fiance this week, I decided something-

I need a hobby.

I used to ride dirt bikes all the time. I always used to have my nose in a book. I used to go to concerts and listen to new music on a weekly basis. I used to make cakes and cookies for my family every chance I could. I used to try out my sewing ability from time to time. I love to write; I used to blog all the time. My room was always being re-arranged and redecorated.

So why don't I do any of those things any more? Life just got in the way. I graduated college, started working full time, got together with my boyfriend, and things just got busy. Now that I'm planning a wedding, little-to-no free time is an issue, but then again, so is stress.

This blog is about finding an outlet for me. Finding something to get me away from my day-to-day life, something that doesn't involve kids or wedding magazines. It's about finding something that gets me excited, something that makes me find my creative side again.

I'm not exactly sure what it all means yet, or what hobbies I will be trying out, but I figure just getting back into writing would be a good start. After all, now I have the entire blogging community to hold me accountable, right?

First stop... baking. I already love to bake, I just haven't done it in a while because of that whole busy-ness thing. My fiance has been wanting to try macaroons for a while, so why not try that out? (I realize this idea might be counterproductive to fitting into my wedding dress, but it's all for a good cause! And really, what better time to learn to bake, then when entering into the wifely role?!)