The best of (baking) intentions

Note to self: never make a public declaration of my intentions. On November 23rd, I declared I would be baking epic holiday cookies and treats in my Cookie Time post.

If I hadn’t made that promise to myself and others (I owe at least three boxes of baked goods to family and friends), I wouldn’t have gotten myself into two weeks of dog duty the first week in December and the second during Christmas week. Our friend’s dog is adorable but she gets herself into all kinds of mischief. For example, while on a telephone call, she managed to jump onto my island and eat one pound of turkey that was to be made into sandwiches to accompany the pot of loaded potato soup that was simmering on the stovetop. Accordingly, I had to be extremely careful with any baking as we all know chocolate is a no-no for our furry friends. Thankfully, I wrestled a pound of butter from her clenched jaw before she broke open the wrapping.

If I hadn’t made that declaration, I wouldn’t have to assist in a major work project that ended up being fun and that I was happy to help with, but not planned and took three days of my cookie time. And lastly, I wouldn’t have contacted the flu which usurped three weeks of my strength and still is lingering.

Does this happen to you? Darcie wrote something similar in her article How many licks does it take? We all want to bake and cook – all the recipes – but life gets in the way. I had planned on baking this past week but friends from out of town came for dinner (my husband told me they were arriving the week of the 16th and it ended up being the 6th) which required a massive clean up and organization of my clutter (a.k.a. baking items and ingredients) out of the kitchen. Making this place look less hoarderish and one day of cooking while continuing my work duties, ousted my dreams of baking time – although I did make a great chocolate cake for the dinner along with three of Alison Roman’s recipes from Nothing Fancy which were raved about.

Cooking is easier for me but baking requires planning and organization. I need physical and mental space to devote to the task with no distractions. Baking requires leaning below is a clip from my favorite movie, ever.

I will not share my plans for baking next week. I have no plans to ever bake again. Declaring this will hopefully end in the result that I hope for – I owe, I owe so off to not bake I go into my kitchen where Christmas cookie cutters go to die.

My photos above include a plate of cookies from a few years back and the second is of Bourbon-pecan blondies from Christmas Cookie Swap!: More Than 100 Treats to Share this Holiday Season.