Having a sweet tooth is a new thing for me. Used to be, I went for the salt. Sugar was nice but I never ordered dessert. If I had cake I'd cut the frosting off. I'd eat a brownie but wash it down with pretzels and then the salt in the bottom of the bag once the pretzels were gone. I put salt on my pizza and salt in everything I cooked. I had me a love affair with sodium. Then I got pregnant with Matilda and the whoopie pies started looking real good. I was wrapping up lunch with giant m&m cookies. Burgers out were followed by ice cream or a brownie or a brownie with ice cream on top.
Since I was already eating the sugar, I decided to finally get a KitchenAid. I'd put one on our wedding registry, just like everyone else, but we didn't get it. I'd been dreaming of a KitchenAid for as long as I can remember but I didn't bake so it seemed a waste. But then! Pregnant! Gleefully shoving cookies into my pie hole hand over fist. So I bought a KitchenAid and started baking in earnest. Cookies and brownies and a lot of cakes. Marzipan tortes and ginger cakes. Carrot layer cakes and vanilla bundt cakes. For Matilda's first birthday I tested 4 chocolate cake recipes before settling on an old standard.
The sweet tooth has quieted down a little since my pregnancy with Matilda but the baking bug is so far up my ass I don't know how to get through a week without baking something. I bake a cake anytime someone threatens to come over. Matilda gets up from a nap? Time to make cookies! Going to the grocery store? Hey! I'll buy some raspberry extract for no good reason. I'm sure I can think up something to bake with it. Playdate? Let's make a cake! Rainy Tuesday afteroon? Great! Cupcakes!
It's a problem. It's a problem because I lack the ability to control my intake. If there's a bundt cake sitting in my kitchen, I eat it. I eat it all up yum. It's a problem because I'm trying to lose weight and at my current rate of loss, I won't fit into my pants until Thanksgiving. I need to stop baking because the baby weight is depressing me and the vanilla cupcakes with raspberry glaze are not helping (and the glaze wasn't even that great).
So today is day one of my Bake Off. Baking is off. No more baking. Internet, it's up to you to keep me accountable.
Now I need to go cultivate my sewing obsession.
Comments (4)
I feel your pain. I've put on 10 pounds in the last 2 months, and I owe it all to dating. You see, I found the one girl in LA who eats, so we're each a horrible influence on the other. I was able to do my spartan, no-sugar, intensely-regulated caloric breakdown thing when I was solo, but by god, eating is fun, and I've been forced to remember that. And with brithday season (hers, mine, 2 nephews and 5 local friends) coming up--and one of them having a cupcake cookoff to celebrate hers--it's looking worse before it gets better.
But hey:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/101275
(If you ever go back to baking. Use good coffee.)
Posted by Cormac Foster![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://blog.atomictonic.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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April 30, 2007 2:55 PM
Posted on April 30, 2007 14:55
fingers in ears. *la la la la*
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April 30, 2007 3:08 PM
Posted on April 30, 2007 15:08
Wow, you are preaching to the choir here. I got a KitchenAid for Christmas, which happened to be the peak day of a season of over-indulgence (duh),batch after batch of neopolitan cookies, and my good jeans gradually getting smaller. In January I tried not to touch the mixer unless it was to make lentil burgers or flaxseed muffins, but it called my name. I could envision the efficient perfectness of KitchenAid-produced cookie dough.
Anyway, I feel the same as you- If there's cake in the house I will eat it all. If it's a rainy day, I say the word, and my 2-year-old grabs a chair and drags it to the corner of the counter where the behemoth appliance resides. He knows the routine.
I've been experimenting with 'healthy treats'. They don't always jingle my chimes in the way an old fashioned chocolate chip cookie does, but I recently found a fantastic, simple recipe with surprising ingredients and a delicious, crowd-pleasing result:
Tahini Candy
1/4 cup Almonds
1/2 cup Tahini
4 tbsp Maple Syrup
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 tbsp carob powder
1/4 cup grated coconut
-bake almonds in 425F oven for 5 minutes.
-in KitchenAid: mix Tahini, Maple Syrup & Almond Extract until stiff ball forms & oil begins to separate.
-stir in Carob Powder
-press dough against side of the bowl to express oil- drain off as much as possible. Allow to sit for 2 minutes & drain off oil again. Place dough in napkin or paper towel, squeeze to absorb excess oil.
-chop almonds & add to mixture.
-on wax paper (to prevent sticking) roll mixture into a cylinder shape
-slice roll into bite-sized pieces & cover in coconut
I stored mine in the fridge, though the recipe doesn't specify if this is necessary :-)
So for us, these candies have been a nice little treat. Nice shot of calcium & good fats, between the Tahini & Almonds, and on the upside, the Maple Syrup is absorbed into your bloodstream a bit slower than refined sugar, making it slightly less evil. Also doesn't make a huge batch, which is nice.
Check out my Flickr for a pic- contact name is Christaface :-)
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May 1, 2007 1:26 AM
Posted on May 1, 2007 01:26
those sound good but still. *la la la la* i need to give the baking a rest for a few months because the idea of not fitting into my pants until thanksgiving is making me deeply depressed.
(i added you to my flickr contacts, though. love your son's name.)
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May 1, 2007 7:32 AM
Posted on May 1, 2007 07:32