Improvement

Okay so last year was all about improvement in my health - mainly getting my weight under control (see my previous post).  While I am still working toward Optimal Health and really love working to help other people with their health goals as a health coach, one of my goals for 2013 (and probably 2014) is to work on my skill of baking.  While I am not planning on eating the items I produce (because I do not want to undo losing over 85lbs), I truly enjoy baking...it is definitely one of my happy places and strangely enough I do some of my best thinking and relaxing while baking.  So here is my plan to work on my skill of baking:

Mike purchased the book Bouchon Bakery by Thomas Keller and Sebastien Rouxel (With Susie Heller, Matthew McDonald, Michael Ruhlman and Amy Vogler - Photographs by Deborah Jones) in November of 2012...I did not pay much attention to in as Mike has a cookbook buying problem and it arrived during a time where multiple large cookbooks were arriving at our house.  I was annoyed at all these books because we truly do not have the space for them.  Well this bakery book sat around for a while, but then I picked it up one random day.  I have to tell you this book is not only beautiful and large, I think it is really going to stretch me as a baker.  So I decided that in the new year (2013) I would start to bake through this book, page by page.  Now I am not promising a recipe a day or even a week because my schedule is so crazy, but I promise each time I do a recipe, I will post it (with pictures).  Even if I fail at a particular recipe, I will post it because we not only learn from our successes but our failures as well.

400 Glorious Pages of Beautiful Baking

The first recipe is "Pecan Sandies for my Mom."

That is my plan today...to make these Pecan Sandies.  I will let you know how they turn out - along with pictures (hopefully tomorrow or if I get ambitious, later today).

Also I know many might ask, what will you do with all the baked items?  Well, the nice thing about Mike working in a big office is there are a lot of people there that can help consume the baked goods.  Remember nothing is terrible for you in moderation...I encourage making healthy choices, but the occasional yummy is also okay with me too.

Cheers to stretching yourself in what you enjoy doing!