It’s been a stress dump week. Actually, some of this has been going on a while but ramped up the fun the last…oh…eight days or so. Including some fun bits of fraud. That’s been handled, but it has the potential to create a little bit of havoc over the next few weeks. But it’s all stuff that can be dealt with.
Sometimes life is complicated.
So what do I do? Walk with Maggie and bake 
Yesterday I decided to try a different, supposedly chef-tested recipe for chewy chocolate chip cookies that don’t spread too much.
Spoiler alert: They spread and burned.
I knew they would but did I trust my own instincts developed from decades of baking? Nope. And that’s truly what pisses me off. I mean, the cookies aren’t a big deal. I can make decent chocolate chip cookies any time. But I should have trust my own instincts, especially when it’s based on decades of baking experience. I don’t care what pastry school this person has gone to, I know how butter, flour, eggs and leavening agents (in this case, baking soda) work together.
The cookies never had a chance to work as promised. Or at least as I envisioned them.
So the moral of this story? Don’t be me! Trust you’re own instincts and experience.
P.S. Can anyone remove this dark cloud looming over us lately? Just asking
P.S.S. Wizard and I are fine, it’s just been a lot of various things happening. Life does that to all of us at some point.
January 12th, 2022 at 8:50 am · Link
:HUGS: I hope whatever’s going on stops soon and that everything works out. And dang about the cookies. You’re absolutely right about trusting your instincts.
I totally messed up a recipe a couple days ago. It started out as pot roast, but then I saw we were out of carrots, so I turned it into beef stroganoff. Which would’ve been fine if I had gotten lazy and instead of making rice (we’re out of noodles, too) to have on the side, I just threw the uncooked rice into the crock pot with the meat and sauce and left it on high. After 90 minutes, the rice had turned into both mush and hard bits. Blerg. I’d like to say ‘lesson learned’ but I’d already learned this lesson and did it anyway. I’ll probably do it again in another few years.
January 12th, 2022 at 8:51 am · Link
*hadn’t gotten lazy
Derp
January 12th, 2022 at 10:46 am · Link
Ah, dang. Sorry for all the stressors! Yeah, life throws turdballs at us sometimes. Sounds like you and Wiz are learning to duck. I’m just sorry you have to. And yeah, baking is tricky. I can’t make my fave brownie recipe anymore because I can no longer get the unsweetened Hershey’s baking chocolate squares. Baker’s makes them runny. Seriously. Just the brand of chocolate makes a difference.
Anyway, hang in there, trust your instincts, and know that the light at the end of the tunnel isn’t necessarily a train. Psst If it is, just get off the tracks.
Many 🤗 and 🥰 to you and yours!
January 12th, 2022 at 4:19 pm · Link
Oh I am so sorry that you’re having a stress filled time. When thing just keep building up it really tends to get to you. I like your healthy way of dealing with the stress. Being with Maggie is the best.
You’re right. Always go with your gut, easy to say, often hard to do.
It’s good to know that both you and Wizard are okay, and Maggie too :).
I hope today has been a better day :)!
January 12th, 2022 at 5:46 pm · Link
B.E., thanks. Yesterday was just ridiculous, but today is better as we could at least do something constructive about an ant problem. It’s minor in the scheme of life but made me feel better
It’s when we can’t do anything to help or resolve things that really stresses us out.
Sorry about the rice! If I was having “one of those days” in my kitchen, I’d probably have done the same thing. Rice can be so weird and finicky. On the other hand, all good cooks have those fails because sometimes, they work and we develop awesome shortcuts
Hope your week is going well.
January 12th, 2022 at 5:57 pm · Link
Silver, thanks! We really are fine, and some things can’t be helped like illnesses and aging relatives. It’s taking some serious creativity to find ways to handle things and Covid is soooo not helping. But we all have to deal with Covid so our life isn’t different from anyone else’s.
LOL on the “get off the tracks”!!! We keep trying! Truly some of this is just beyond our control.
Oh yeah, chocolate can make a huge difference depending on how much cocoa butter it has in it. Baking is super precise. Sorry you can’t get the unsweetened Hershey’s baking squares
Hope you’re having a good hump day!
January 12th, 2022 at 6:00 pm · Link
Viki, Maggie really is a huge help with stress.
I agree we really need to trust ourselves more.
Today is a better way in some ways. We just can’t be stressed all the time and do our best to move on
Happy Wednesday!