On...What I'm Good At...

“Whatever the Way, the master of strategy does not appear fast….Of course, slowness is bad. Really skillful people never get out of time, and are always deliberate, and never appear busy.” - Miyamoto Musashi

Well, well, well. What have we here? Am I actually updating my blog? Shouldn't I be focused on my other rather important writing project? Probably. But that's partly what this blog is all about. This is about the things i'm good at versus the things i'm really kind of suck at. Case in point: PROCRASTINATION. I'm really great at that!! It's o.k., though. I'll make my deadline for that writing project. I work well under pressure :).

Anyway...

Just the other night I thought about how awesome it was that I could just make brownies because I wanted them. I didn't need to get a "boxed mix" out of the cabinet. I had all the ingredients and all I had to do was put them together and WHAM, I had fresh, hot, chocolate-y brownies! Take that, Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines! But until a recent conversation with Yeti, I didn't realize just how strange and special being able to just DO that is! It's just something that's in my blood, I guess!

Homemade Ring Dings

I've been surrounded by bakers most of my life. It started with my grandmother always making wedding cakes and birthday cakes for everyone, and of course her famous Whoopie Pies that she makes from scratch. I remember the day she showed me how to make them. She didn't even USE a recipe card. She didn't need a book. It was all in her head. It was amazing to watch! The best part is that they come out flawless and consistent. EVERY TIME. I know that if I made those Whoopie Pies as many times as my Nana has, I could do it from memory too!  Can I remember THAT recipe? Absolutely not (which is sads!) But I can make a mean chocolate chip cookie dough almost completely from memory and they come out pretty damn awesome if I do say so myself. 

Not only do I have my Nana to look to for inspiration, but I have my dad as well! He, too, got into the wedding cake and birthday cake baking game. My brother and I had some pretty killer birthday cakes growing up. I remember when he made the cake for my Uncle Warren's wedding. I don't think I had ever seen something so wonderful! I remember watching him make FRESH gingerbread to make houses, not the box you buy at Michael's and put together. He drew out the stencils on cardboard, cut them out, made the icing and decorated it. The level of creativity that went into it was insane! I got to bring one into school and go "My daddy made this!" It was pretty awesome :).

My "Ninjabread Men" and "Gingerdead Men"

So now I guess it's my turn to take up the proverbial spatula and whisk. My hope is that I will not only meet their level of expertise and talent, but also raise the bar!  Hell, I've already resolved to learn how to make the entire line of discontinued Hostess and Drake's snack cakes! So far The Jo-Stess Bakery has successfully recreated Twinkies and Ring Dings! I can't tell you how awesome it makes me feel to be able to do that! Not only do I get to make these treats again for my friends and family, but I can also make them without any JUNK in them. That's right! No preservatives or additives. Just pure sugary goodness. I love it!

Homemade Jo-Stess Winkies!

  The thing that i'm not so good at, however, is math. Yup that's right. I hate math because i'm terrible at it. Basic adding, subtracting, division, multiplication, fractions, etc., I got all that. But I have trouble with long-winded word problems. I have trouble applying formulas to numbers. I've just never gotten it! My academic hierarchy goes like this: English, History, Science, Math. I'm much better with words and phrases and remembering dates and times then I am about solving for "x" and "y".

Right about now you're probably thinking what in the hell this has to do with baking! It's quite simple really. What is math? A shit-ton of formulas. What is a recipe? It's also a formula! Both types of formulas are very specific and you have to follow them correctly in order to achieve the correct answer/make a delicious treat!  For example: The Order of Operations, or Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally. There is a specific way that you need to do it or else you're fucked!  In that same vein, if you put the wrong kind of flour (or not enough flour for that matter) in your recipe, you're FUCKED. Your delicious treat will be horrid! 

I guess what I find is odd that I can follow one kind of formula almost perfectly, but can't do the other kind to save my life. My brain turns to mush when you put a paper full of math problems in front of me, but I go into Zen mode when I'm working in the kitchen. I may not be able to figure out percentages quickly but I can make Ring Dings dammit! It's odd that two things that are so strikingly similar cause different outcomes. I don't fully understand why that is.