Rediscovering Fun
Chicken and Chorizo Pie Baked and Photographed by Deirdre Parker
Coming back around to part of my identity.
Have you ever heard that when you are looking to add fun to your life, that you should look back to what you loved doing when you were very young - elementary school age? For me, that was baking. Once I was old enough to bake I loved the nearly instant gratification, the precision, and the attention to detail required. Ever since then, baking has been part of my identity.
This week I took a virtual class with Julie Jones, a cookbook author who makes the most beautiful pies. I made the pie pictured above and learned some simple but impressive pie decorating techniques. It was so much fun (in terms of feeling like an escape), leading me to realize that it has been a long time since I have felt that way about anything.
As my children marched through their elementary school years I yearned to earn money by baking. I was an accomplished home baker, but I wanted to learn in a more formal way. I signed up for Fundamentals of Pastry Technique, a 6 month certificate course at a regional cooking school. I still have my notebooks and remember clearly how I enjoyed the content; it was energizing, engaging, intellectually stimulating, and challenging. Word of mouth started to spread that I was someone who could make you a cake, and I started to earn a little money baking for other people.
My business slowly grew. I not only baked American style desserts for holidays, special occasions and as gifts, but also offered baking classes for children and adults. It was great, but just like my work at WW (Growing and Outgrowing) I loved it, until I did not.
After about 7 years I was burned out. My body hurt from the physicality of the work, I was tired of baking, the prep, the ordering of supplies, the shopping, the crazy time from Thanksgiving to Christmas. I had also by then joined WW, and hit my goal weight, and could tell that if I kept myself around baked goods all the time, I would have a hard time keeping the weight off. I closed up shop with no regrets because it felt like time for a change.
Over the last 8 years or so I have not baked as much. For a long time I did not because I was tired of it and needed a break. Whenever I did bake, I still struggled not to overeat what I had made (Sugar Sugar). I baked if we entertained, for family occasions and if my kids were home. That was enough for me.
Then the pandemic hit and during those first few months of Covid when we really could not go out, I started baking more to pass the time. A couple of things happened. I no longer overate what I had baked, and more importantly in a way, I remembered how much I loved it. The distance I had given myself from it had come full circle and it was again a fun hobby.
I will be the first one to tell you that a love of baking can get in the way of long term health goals. Goodness knows I wrestled with this piece for years. But change takes time, and as I have moved through years of maintenance, this piece became easier to manage. I would also be the first to tell you that there are few places where you can buy a dessert where it even comes close to what you can make at home. Baking at home means you control your ingredients, and ensures that it is delicious and worth the indulgence.
How long has it been since you did something that felt fun? Where your attention was engaged for an hour or so? Not sure? I wasn’t either, but it’s all coming back to me now. Figure this out for yourself and take a step to bring it (back) into your life.
