Baking makes sense to me. There are precise ingredients, straightforward instructions, and clear expectations. You do A and B right and C should taste reasonably good. Especially if you are me and your reading of 100+ reviews reveals that it’s worked out well for everyone else.
Cooking – cooking ‘desi’ (South Asian) food is another ball game. Precise recipes seem to have gone the way of unicorns and fairies and instructions are broad advisories at best. I have been baking since the age of 6 and technically cooking since 13, but not with any real regularity until a few years ago when I got married and moved to Canada to be with a man who often reminds me that for him even average tasting desi food is better than any other kind of food. The last 5 years (almost 6) have seen me try many many recipes and I recently realized that although there have been successes I never wrote them down and over time I forget the things that make each dish sing.
My little brother cutting the first cake that I remember baking, the pretty frosting was done by my mom
Two years ago I had the kind of baby girl that I always wanted, a tomboy who loves her tutus, proclaims that climbing is her ‘favorite’, cracks jokes (not the knock knock kind), and is generally a feisty little monkey. Now anyone who has ever known or seen a two year old knows that they aren’t always so charming and are somewhat time intensive. Being Zara’s mama has meant several things – for one, I think differently about food and for another, I have less time for it all. Doing the best I can in the time I have has become increasingly important.
So here is me attempting to be the kind of cook that I am a baker. The kind of cook that gets it right most of the time, the kind of cook that won’t giggle anxiously when someone asks her for a recipe thinking “holy crap, what did I put in there!”, and the kind of cook that thinks cooking is fun. So join me as I cook, bake and mama my way through life – not quite in that order 🙂
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