What I Learnt About Life From Baking For A Day
I baked once again today, after a 3 year hiatus - and it was truly a therapeutic experience for me. I decided to pull up my sleeves and make time to bake because a good friend of mine, Chun Rong sent me some of his unique baking pre-mix that he had made in conjunction with a talented master-chef finalist , Genevieve Lee.
Nori Cereal Furikake & Hojicha Butter Cookie Mix
Received this gift from Chun Rong - and the Hojicha Butter Cookie Mix is the one that I had used for baking - the flavours of the cookie had the aroma of Hojicha yet having the familiar cookie dough taste, yummy!
Knowing that i have to make time to bake, meant that I had to make some time adjustments to my Sunday working schedule (I work everyday) and set up time specially to bake, because the process of baking requires our focus.
I am very thankful to have the company of my family, especially my Mom who accompanied throughout the process of baking - from the preparation of the batter to giving me wholehearted attention during the process that I was kneading the cookie’s dough.
Stanley Happily Kneading The Dough
Close Up Of Chun Tsubaki Hojicha Butter Cookie Mix
This simple act of setting this time for baking aside, made me realise how bogged down, I truly am from the day-to-day affair of handling my work, and how much of a personal joy it would be giving undivided attention to my loved ones - no handphones, no work messages - just simply my family and myself.
I think in life, sometimes when we are too caught up with work and neglect people around us, it is important for us to set aside moments intentionally to spend with our loved ones - before it becomes too late, especially in this season of turbulence - we never know what will happen exactly tomorrow.
After I was done kneading the cookie dough, and while we were waiting for the cookie to form - it made me realise the importance of patience - after all the work that we do, we need to remember that we need to give ourselves and the projects we do, the time it deserves.
Raw Kneaded Cookie Dough
Baking The Cookie Dough
The cookies can’t expand immediately, we need to wait - just like all the fruits on the tree that we are yearning for, it only ripens if we give it the love, attention and time it deserves.
The last thing I took away from this baking session - not everything will turn out perfectly, but it is up to us to take things within our stride - sometimes minor mistakes such as incorrect temperature, poor time control, or some other factors outside our locust of control affects the outcome.
Burnt Cookies Due To Slight Overcooking
Baking cookies wise, we need to be extremely sensitive to the timing as well as the temperature - slight differences might mean a whole lot of difference when it comes to making cookies.
The first batch of cookies had quite a number of burnt cookies, due to the slightly variation to the timing, but instead of making a big fuss - my mom and I did our best to salvage the cookies that were edible and focused on ensuring the subsequent batches turned out well.
Great Batch Of Cookies
Great Batch Of Cookies
This is an important business and life-tip, sometimes when the situation do not turn out favourably for us - we should not panic or work up a big fuss - but rather divert our attention to ensure the future outcomes turn out better or even more amazing that before.
Truly no point crying over spilt milk, but if we focus on ensuring subsequent batches turned out well, we would have still reaped a whole deal of great cookies that we could enjoy for the week.
Who would have thought that a simple act of setting time aside to bake on a Sunday, would have shown me such a great deal about life - and for this I am truly grateful.
I hope this simple sharing inspires you to set aside time to work on a project that is fun and/or meaningful for you, because you might gain a whole lot from it too! Till then, let us continue to wonder through life together.