A Year of Easy Tasty Bakes to Fill Your Days with Joy and Comfort
In late 2020 I released my first self published book ‘Everyday Bakes’ (now only available as an ebook). It was filled with recipes that fit the following criteria - that when I felt like something nice to eat (i.e. a slice of cake or a biscuit), that I could make something relatively easily and without too much time. That the recipes could be accessible to almost everyone, and that the act of baking didn’t have to be overly complex or intimidating. Baking could be something that is incorporated into everyday life, so that small pockets of joy and comfort could be found whenever they might be needed.
More than two years from the release of ‘Everyday Bakes’ I am still finding that my way of baking is the same. I am looking for bakes that are relatively easy, and that don’t take up too much time or energy, but also also worth it in terms for flavour.
I love a complicated more time consuming bake too, but in reality I don’t often have the time or energy levels to make something like that. I also don’t have enough people to feed to make big layer cakes and grand desserts to justify making them very often. I also understand that bigger more complicated bakes can be quite intimidating and may put of those less confident in their baking skills from attempting baking altogether.
Recipes like those I shared in my book, can not only fit into your everyday life, but can act as a no pressure way of improving your baking skills and gaining more confidence in your abilities. Starting with more simple recipes will help you learn the foundations of baking, but will also show how accessible it can be to incorporate baking into your everyday life and how relaxing and enjoyable it can be to eat that really tasty slice of cake or biscuit after only a small amount of time in the kitchen - and that you made it yourself!
There are many reasons why baking more simply can be a good way to go. For me it’s a way of keeping something that I really like doing as part of my life at all times, even when I am unwell. Living with chronic illness is utterly debilitating at times and in those moments of extreme pain and when I am unable to do anything, I often get most upset or disappointed that I feel unable to bake anything. If I don’t bake I get restless and agitated, it’s something I need to do. And sometimes when you’re sick, doing something that is just for you, just something you want to do because you want to do it becomes really important.
Often living with chronic illness means prioritising the things in life that have to be done - like trying to ensure I am well enough to work each week or attend an appointment. Often things I want to be doing have to get pushed to the side to ensure those other things happen. But there comes a point where the things I want to do have to fit into my life too. With baking, I maintain this by focusing on less involved recipes that are worth the time and effort to make because they taste great and will act as a nice and comforting moment on the days where literally nothing else but sitting still is able to happen.
This is still a work in progress for me, I still overdo it in the kitchen sometimes (I have a habit of making more than one recipe per kitchen session, so even if the recipes are quick and simple I’ve times it by three and exhausted myself anyway!), but it’s important to me to be able to bake and to be able to eat something nice. Sometimes a nice biscuit and one of my favourite teas is the only positive thing in a day filled with pain, medication side effects and the profound disappointment that plans have again been thwarted by my chronic illness.
For others, finding the time, energy or motivation to bake may be similar to mine, come from other things or lack of time due to raising children, demanding jobs, lots of time commuting to said jobs, lack of baking confidence as I mentioned before, or not feeling like baking is accessible to you for whatever reason resonates with your life and circumstance the most. I’m not here to say that if I can do it anyone can, but rather if you like the idea of incorporating baking into your life more, I’d love to show you how.
So with all that in mind, as part of this series I will aim to share a recipe a week on Instagram throughout 2023 that fits the everyday baking bill, in the hope that it provides accessible inspiration for you to spend a small amount of calm time in the kitchen and enjoy the small moments of joy and comfort that homemade treats can bring. By the end of the 2023 I hope you will have found a few recipes you can turn to over and over again when you just feel like something nice to eat and only have a small amount of time (or energy) to make it happen.
I will still share recipes that are more complicated and time consuming, and of course share when I’ve created fun recipes for clients too. But when it comes to my baking just for me, simple and everyday bakes are where its at, and I hope you enjoy this year of everyday baking with me.
Find me on Instagram @kulinaryadventuresofkath
