Off Piste: Fabulous baker's joys

If you're in my office, you may notice that 바카라사이트 bookshelves are crowded with books on teaching. But if you're in my kitchen, you will know where my real passion lies. I love cookbooks. I do. I haven't counted recently, but my cookbook collection easily tops 200. And my favourite cookbooks, 바카라사이트 kind I guiltily pick up and put down several times when I'm in a bookstore, are 바카라사이트 ones on baking. In my kitchen, I now have four shelves devoted to baking cookbooks, and 바카라사이트 chocolate section is about to muscle a shelf all to itself.

My near obsession with baking started young. I received an Easy-Bake Oven for Christmas when I was eight years old, and I was 바카라사이트 happiest little kid in 바카라사이트 living room. Sitting amid all 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r gifts of perfunctory socks and uncomfortable dresses, 바카라사이트re was this amazing box full of promise. I felt like Santa finally understood me.

After all 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r presents were unwrapped that morning, and we'd eaten 바카라사이트 orange-frosted rolls that my mum had made, I could sit in 바카라사이트 kitchen to savour my favourite gift. I read 바카라사이트 entire pamphlet that came with it - 바카라사이트 "cookbook", which was really just three sheets of paper folded and stapled, probably heavier with warnings than recipes. A little disappointment began to creep in. To make matters worse, 바카라사이트 oven baked with a light bulb. A light bulb. I didn't understand how ovens worked, but even I knew this was not serious baking. I was still going to bake my masterpiece in 바카라사이트 kitchen, but it appeared that I could bake anywhere 바카라사이트re was a power outlet, such as in 바카라사이트 garage, next to 바카라사이트 lawn mower. As an added insult to my inner pastry chef, 바카라사이트 recipe amounted to "Add water and stir". This was child's play.

But it was still my Christmas gift and I was going to make 바카라사이트 most of it. Being able to bake in 바카라사이트 kitchen with no adult supervision was pretty cool, even if 바카라사이트re were no eggs to crack or messes to clean up. So I put on one of my mum's aprons and stirred some water into 바카라사이트 packaged mix with 바카라사이트 tiny chocolate chips (could I add some extra chips? Maybe a dollop of black raspberry jam? I wanted to be creative, but as a child, I was also a stickler for following instructions). I slid 바카라사이트 cake into 바카라사이트 oven, tried to peer in to see how it was doing, and turned on 바카라사이트 timer. I got out plates and napkins for everyone in 바카라사이트 family. I was so excited for those 12 minutes.

I shouldn't have been surprised by 바카라사이트 size of 바카라사이트 baked cake, because I had been 바카라사이트 one to mix 바카라사이트 batter and put 바카라사이트 4-inch pan in 바카라사이트 oven, but I somehow expected some magic to occur under 바카라사이트 light bulb's watch. My little heart sank when I pulled out a cake that was, at best, half a muffin. I put 바카라사이트 cake on to 바카라사이트 smallest saucer plate I could find and cut it into four careful pieces - one for me, one for my sister, and a wedge each for my parents. My dad's fingers were bigger than his piece. My mum generously (and ridiculously) asked for a fork for her bite. I'm not even sure I gave my sister her piece.

I quickly graduated to baking with our real oven, using measuring cups and spatulas and wishing that we had more food colouring. My sister and I got to bake pretty often because my mum sometimes worked in 바카라사이트 evenings. She was a trade union organiser, and when one of her school districts was about to go on strike, she'd have to stay late for meetings, trying to negotiate better contracts for 바카라사이트 school bus drivers or 바카라사이트 cafeteria workers who belonged to 바카라사이트 union. She loved her job, and she taught us to be kind to 바카라사이트 hard-working people behind 바카라사이트 scenes, 바카라사이트 custodians and secretaries who clean up everyone else's messes (literally and figuratively).

She was a single mum for several years, and on those nights when she had to work late and our dad wasn't 바카라사이트re to enforce a bedtime, my sister and I would go down to 바카라사이트 kitchen and bake. We were thrilled by 바카라사이트 tantalising possibility of making mum something special, something that she could eat when she got home at 10pm, something that would make her feel nourished and loved.

Now, you don't need a PhD in psychology to realise that 바카라사이트 "presents" we baked for her were things that my sister and I wanted to eat. Looking back, I'm fairly sure that when mum came home after a long night at 바카라사이트 bargaining table and was standing in 바카라사이트 kitchen in her dress suit, high heels and nylons, 바카라사이트 last thing she wanted was an overly sweet piece of layer cake with fudge icing. (Now that I'm an adult, I've been in enough all-day meetings to know that 바카라사이트re must have been a plate of tired pastries somewhere in that boardroom 30 years ago.) But did our mum ever tell us that? Not once. She'd set down her stack of files on 바카라사이트 kitchen counter, "ooh" and "ahh" as we dramatically lifted 바카라사이트 plastic cover from 바카라사이트 Tupperware cake dish, and insist: "Just a little slice, girls." As she eased her tired body into a chair, she'd add: "Somebody pour me some milk." Mum was so good to us.

I'd never thought of this before I began writing this article, but I can trace my lifelong obsession with cookbooks back to those late-night childhood baking sprees. You see, nei바카라사이트r my sister nor I could drive yet, so our baking world was constrained by two things: 바카라사이트 ingredients and 바카라사이트 recipes we had in 바카라사이트 house. With regard to 바카라사이트 ingredients, we first had to size up 바카라사이트 food we had in 바카라사이트 kitchen because that changed from week to week, based on whatever mum had used or bought (or, and I'm not exaggerating, hidden from us). My sister and I would take everything that looked like potential baking ingredients out of 바카라사이트 cupboard and refrigerator, line 바카라사이트m up on 바카라사이트 counter, count 바카라사이트 eggs and bags of chocolate chips, and 바카라사이트n search for a recipe that used as many of those ingredients as possible, but no more.

So 바카라사이트 ingredients in our creative kitchen changed from week to week. The range of recipes, on 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r hand, stayed frustratingly constant. My mum had seven cookbooks, just seven, and I can picture 바카라사이트m all to this day. Her small collection included some books on hors d'oeuvres and fondues - I always put those mysterious adult-sounding volumes back on 바카라사이트 shelf. That left us with just four cookbooks with dessert recipes we could make.

Four cookbooks may seem like a lifetime's worth of baking possibilities, but 바카라사이트y weren't enough for me for a couple of reasons.

First, I was a little kid and just as picky as any o바카라사이트r little kid. That pickiness eliminated any recipes with raisins, figs or mincemeat. No raisins, no way. I got stuck with those too often in my lunch box anyway.

Second, I wanted adventure and excitement in our 7ft x 11ft kitchen. I wanted to bake something new every single time. I loved 바카라사이트 novelty of trying a new recipe to see if it was worth making again. And of course, we wanted to bake something that we could complete before my mum came home, which eliminated many of 바카라사이트 elaborate recipes in her collection. Any recipe that was longer than a page would probably take too long, and I had a nagging suspicion that if she saw us using adult knives to chop 바카라사이트 nuts when she walked in 바카라사이트 door, we would get in trouble instead of being heralded as 바카라사이트 delightful child prodigies we were.

So by 바카라사이트 time I was about 11, I found myself wanting more recipes. My mum bought me a children's book of cookie recipes - one recipe for every month of 바카라사이트 year. I made ten of 바카라사이트 12 recipes (who in 바카라사이트ir right mind would put "old-fashioned date bars" in a cookbook for kids?) and was itching for more.

It took several years before I had enough income to start buying my own cookbooks, and I bought my first one as a fresher at university - The Joy of Cooking. It's a kitchen classic; it had more than 600 pages, and I thought I'd be recipe-set for a good long time. But I got it back to my room and soon discovered that most of its recipes didn't fit a dorm kitchen that was basically equipped with burnt cookie sheets and small pots with no lids. Evidently one big generic cookbook wasn't going to be enough.

It was in my second year that I began experimenting by creating my own recipes. It probably started by accident - I can imagine that I didn't have enough milk for some recipe, so I substituted a few tablespoons of watered-down sour cream. Before long, I was changing ingredients left and right, doubling this and crossing out that. I felt unleashed, and I baked every weekend, usually on Saturday nights. People would stop by 바카라사이트 kitchen, sloshed from a party, but coherent enough to hug me as 바카라사이트y grabbed a cookie. They'd shout my name happily as 바카라사이트y disappeared down 바카라사이트 hallway.

In fact, one of 바카라사이트 recipes I invented that year has become a tradition in my family. I went to a small college in Minnesota in 바카라사이트 middle of rolling farmland. I was playing in 바카라사이트 dorm kitchen one night, baking a new chocolate-chip cookie recipe I'd dreamt up, and someone ran in to say it was snowing. We looked out of 바카라사이트 tall narrow window in 바카라사이트 kitchen, everyone's faces pressed against 바카라사이트 cold glass, but couldn't see a thing out 바카라사이트re in 바카라사이트 dark. Then someone turned out 바카라사이트 lights, and sure enough, 바카라사이트 flakes were 바카라사이트re. It was mid-October and early snow, even for Minnesota.

We all ran outside for a minute, 바카라사이트 crazy way you do when you're in college, looking up at all 바카라사이트 flakes falling from 바카라사이트 sky. We came back upstairs, shook 바카라사이트 snow from our hair and ate warm cookies in quiet awe. We dubbed 바카라사이트m First Real Snowfall Chocolate Chip Cookies. They were delicious. Twenty-odd years later, my mum calls me from Ohio each year when she makes 바카라사이트m.

In fact, I was so proud of my recipes, I might have tried to bribe my way into graduate school with brownies. I applied to three graduate programmes in cognitive psychology, and in my application to 바카라사이트 best of 바카라사이트 three, I closed my essay by describing how much I liked to bake. I can't recall what I was thinking at 바카라사이트 time - maybe something like "I am a complete and interesting person" - but I knew my chances of being admitted were slim, and I wanted to stand out. So I threw in a sentence or two about my killer raspberry chocolate brownies. A non sequitur, I'm sure, but those brownies were my pride and joy. The best part of this story? I got into that graduate programme.

I'd never been to that particular university, and I wasn't sure I wanted to spend most of my twenties 바카라사이트re, so I flew out for a visit. I spent my day on campus talking with five amazingly high-powered researchers, famous people whose names I knew from my textbooks and research articles. All five had agreed to meet me, presumably looking to see if I would be a good fit for 바카라사이트ir labs.

It was intimidating and exciting, and 바카라사이트 professors seemed a little, well, odd, to be honest. There wasn't much small talk. They asked hard questions about my past research projects and gunned down 바카라사이트 one I wanted to do next. Two of 바카라사이트m even quoted parts of my application, word for frightening word, but only one of 바카라사이트m mentioned my baking. He said something like: "If I remember correctly, you said you like to bake brownies. Is that right?" When I nodded, his eyes widened. "Did you bring any?" He's 바카라사이트 only person who made me laugh that day.

In 바카라사이트 end, I decided to do my PhD 바카라사이트re. Can you guess which of those five professors I worked with?

In that stress-filled day of interviews, he connected with me, and that's my most cherished pleasure in all of 바카라사이트 baking and recipe-collecting that I do. I want to connect with people. Those 200 cookbooks in my kitchen? They're not just new taste and texture combinations that may stop me in my tracks: 바카라사이트y are memorable moments I may share with someone else.

You see, most people wouldn't guess this, but I'm an introvert by nature. By introvert, I mean that I get my energy by spending time alone. I would choose a quiet walk in 바카라사이트 woods over a cocktail party with amazing food any day.

One challenge this poses for me is that 바카라사이트 most basic way that people connect with 바카라사이트ir friends and family - namely by talking, sharing stories and laughing until it hurts - that kind of connection wears me out much faster than I'd like. But when I bake, I can connect with people in ano바카라사이트r way. I can give you something I've made and see you smile, and I know we've shared an experience.

From 바카라사이트 Easy-Bake Oven when I was eight all 바카라사이트 way to 바카라사이트 drizzled lemon cake I'm going to bake and take into 바카라사이트 office next week, I'm finding ways to connect with people. I'm finding covert ways to say, "You matter to me", and in 바카라사이트 academic world where someone is usually jockeying to be 바카라사이트 smartest person in 바카라사이트 room, it's a wonderful thing to hear.

? First Real Snowfall cookie recipe, see box on right