Blogging again

During the past year I tried to keep up with my cooking/baking and personal blogs, but I failed to maintain both. Perhaps with a fresh start of one blog, I will be more motivated to blog more often. The spring months were joyful, busy, and full of excitement. I suppose every 27 year old's definition of excitement is different, but whatever we make of it is all wonderful. Summer did not turn out as well.

I am still at my current job, and I've been there almost four years. That is the longest commitment I've made to a company. I still haven't gotten a raise in three years due to the economy. Some change is pending, but they are dragging it out and overworking me. I'm sure I'll have some lovely posts on that later. After my two undergrad business degrees and a few years of rest, I decided to take 20 hours of biology and related courses as a pre-nursing major. Becoming a nurse is something I still think about, but as soon as the courses were done thissummer, I got really busy and put everything on hold again. The question remains: In this working world, do I want to wipe ass or kiss ass?

Being stressed at work led me to focusing more on one of my favorite hobbies: baking. I started to make simple things like brownies and cupcakes years ago, but everything came from a box. Lately I'm more fascinated with food science and how ingredients work together to form these marvelous, delicious confections. I much prefer to bake from scratch. I take no credit for any of the basic recipes... I found some really good ones online; however, I do try to give things a personal touch to make it stand out. One of my favorite things to make is the sugar cookie. It is time consuming, but the end result makes me happy. I am able to focus my energies into a nontraditional "art" and love to share sweets with others. I'm also known to do cupcakes, and lately I'm venturing back into cakes. I did take two Wilton courses (and still need two more). I may start making more things outside the regular scheme though.

The baking volume has increased tremendously in the past half year as my level of stress increased at work. It is something productive and makes me clear my brain of the funk. I really am recharged after producing a batch of cookies. What really makes me even happier are the sprinkles on top of dessert. There can never be too much!