My Baking Misadventures

Yes, it’s the sad truth, baking is absolutely not my forte. I can cook, but I can’t bake to save my life. Cookies, pies, cakes, breads, they all suffer the same fate; becoming a charred, gruesome mess or so hard that taking a bite becomes almost impossible. And the thing is, I don’t do it on purpose! I actually attempt to follow the recipe, step by step, but, no, not once have they ever turned out to be edible. I thought for a while that baking could become a hobby of mine, just like some people like gardening, but I just gave up. And the thing that makes me so sad it that I hate wasting food, but I keep trying because my favorite type of foods are those that can be baked.

The following are actual things that happened to me:

The first thing I remember baking was brownies. Oh, my mouth watered at the idea of chocolatey goodness. I followed the recipe (and mind you, it was one of those quick mixes from a box), I got the pan measured, buttered, and ready. So I do everything that the box says to do, and put it in the oven for the recommended time. I come back later when the timer goes off, and it’s still not all solid, so I leave it for a couple more minutes. Maybe five to seven minutes later I peer into the oven, and it’s all burned! I don’t even know how that possibly could’ve happened, but it did. My mother tried to salvage them, but when she finished, all that remained was a notebook-thick sheet of brownies. She had to cut the top and the bottom off because it was burned black. And then, to make everything absolutely worse, it hardened so much that biting a piece off took the jaw strength of an alligator.

The second thing I remember baking was bread. I wanted some french bread to make into a sub sandwich later for lunch (apparently I had learned nothing from my previous experience). I followed the steps I found from a generic food recipe website very diligently, but when the bread came out, it was rock hard. It was so tough that at one point I beat it against the table in desperation, and it wouldn’t break. I had to resort to eating a sandwich with regular sandwich bread. I was not happy, and neither was my mom who was also looking forward to the subs.

And so, I’ve given up on baking for the time being. Baking is a good task to know how to do, but I really feel bad about wasting so much food when I’ll just have to throw it away later. It would be nice to bake some treats for my secret buddy, or for a snack, but I’ll just compromise by getting some nice, store bought baked goods.

If you haven’t already, give Netflix a try

By what do we define ourselves now, as a society? Technology- dependent is pretty far up there I’d have to say. Youtube videos, the selfie, the tweets, the likes, they have turned us from a society that enjoys spending time together to a society that prefers apps in your phones as a means of entertainment. I’m not going to say that I haven’t partaken in a lot of these practices, because if I did I’d be lying to you. I’m not the type of person that’s attached to their phone every waking moment, and I don’t update my Facebook status every twenty-minutes, but I what I do do is invest too much time on my Netflix app. Unwisely, I’ve devoted far too many hours to it, but as the school year has started, I have had to restrain myself.

I believe what makes Netflix so attractive is the certain amount of freedom that it gives us. It allows us to momentarily escape our lives and worries, and immerse ourselves into a new reality. Maybe you need cheering up and find a show extremely hilarious or very relatable. Many of us get attached to shows because they tug at our strings and make us feel more human. For others its just the thrill of watching something that could never happen actually come to life on the screens of their devices. Whatever the reason, I find that everybody has the potential to be a Netflix “addict”.

I know what you’re thinking: Does she watch Netflix every waking moment? No, no I don’t. At one point I did “binge-watch” Netflix with a passion, maybe seven episodes back to back of Doctor Who or Chuck, but during the school year I do maybe an hour a week. It started out as a means to pass the time, around three years ago. But what I want the reader to get out of this is that Netflix gave me the chance to watch things I wouldn’t have been able to see otherwise. All I’m saying is give Netflix a try. You don’t have to become an “addict” like I am/ was, but at least dip your toes, figuratively of course, into the world of Netflix, and see where it takes you.