The Joy of Baking

Ever since my college days, I had enjoyed cooking, especially baking. I particularly enjoy baking in the middle of the night, when it's quiet. Then, it normally ends up waking the whole house with the whisking and beating and blending in the kitchen. But as soon as the mates saw me baking, their rage turned into joy, knowing that there would be banana bread for breakfast or chocolate chips cookies for snacks the next day.

I like the step-by-step approach of baking; it’s very systematic and organized. Just follow the recipe of mixing and blending the ingredients and then baking them in an oven. Voila! Minutes later the house will be filled with the wonderful aroma of the freshly baked cake or cookies. There’s something reassuring about the whole process, for the fact that if you work on it properly and diligently, delightful result is guaranteed. That’s certainly a spirit picker-upper when I feel I’m stuck at stuff I’m working on, be it writing, dealing with people, studying or slaving at work.

Baking is very fun as you are allowed to experiment with different ingredients and portions. You can triple the chocolate chips (always a good thing) or replace the nuts with raisin or use brandy instead of juice for the extra kick. Hence I find baking therapeutic, as you can express yourself according to your desire and mood at that instant. Do whatever you feel like, be creative, let your imagination run wild, and push the envelope.

I just bought “The Joy of Cooking” a couple of weeks ago and so far had been churning out a banana bread and a batch of chocolate cookies. Yummy! At the end of the day, I like baking simply because I like to eat!