If there's one thing I've heard several too many times in my years of baking and cake decorating, its the sentence, "I wish I had the talent to do that." And there's nothing that will get me jumping onto my soapbox quicker, eager to explain that there is literally no intrinsic talent involved. Like every creative endeavour or otherwise, it's nothing but years of accumulated skills, knowledge and practice practise practise. So, you want to start baking, maybe it feels like everything you touch is a mess and you don't know where to start. Well, before you can even start trying to do anything fancy you need to prepare your canvas. Or to put it c
Cooking and Baking Week
Sourdough can seem quite intimidating, but it doesn't have to be. Once you have your starter there are many things you can do with it. Bread, pancakes, waffles, English muffins, crackers, and that is just to start!
I have seen many different starter recipes. And even tried a few. One started with a bunch of grapes! But really, all you need is water and flour.
The bread can be as simple as adding water, flour and salt to the starter, to ones with all kinds of stuff added. Even chocolate! My favorite is a seasoned olive and sun dried tomato loaf.
So, let us start with the starter!
Starter
The main difference between
How to: Baking with a theme by SweetMissCreation, journal
How to: Baking with a theme
Cooking and Baking Week
Creative baking has been a great outlet for me and it's always fun to serve a friend or loved one a delicious treat with a beloved character on it. Something that'll make them go 'This is so cute, I can't eat it!' (Although seriously: I make delicious treats for a reason: EAT IT! 😋)
As someone who loves to bake I find it very relaxing to map out themes, ideas and baking 'schedules' for myself. I've gotten to a point where I know the steps to creating something elaborate, but also how to keep things simpler when I need to.
If you want to create some themed baked goods: Here's a quick guide to help you on your
Choose Your Own Culinary Adventure by moonbeam13, journal
Choose Your Own Culinary Adventure
Cooking and Baking Week
A few weeks ago, I asked the community to suggest ingredients to me and from those suggestions I picked five to focus on and provide recipes for. Here they are!
StargazeAndSundance (https://www.deviantart.com/stargazeandsundance) suggested: White fish, mushrooms, and cabbage
Stygma (https://www.deviantart.com/stygma) suggested: Eggplant
Mrs-Durden (https://www.deviantart.com/mrs-durden) suggested: Carrots
Thiefoworld (https://www.deviantart.com/thiefoworld) suggested: Pineapple
hypermagical (https://www.deviantart.com/hypermagical) suggested: Bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, spinach and black olives (I failed you on the olives ;P)
Do any of these recipes appeal to you? What is an ingredient that you absolutely love? Do you have a favourite recipe? Let me know in the comments below!
The Basics - Essential Tools for Your Kitchen by moonbeam13, journal
The Basics - Essential Tools for Your Kitchen
Cooking and Baking Week
A random fact you may not know about me, is that I've been cooking since I was a child and I actually went to Culinary school. I think making food for others is an act of love and I find it very calming, even when I was running a very busy restaurant line!
If you're a foodie, or know someone who is, you'll know that it's very easy to get sucked into every new gadget and gizmo that comes out. The reality is that you don't really need an avocado slicer but there are essential tools that, in my opinion, every kitchen should have.
So here is my simple list to equip yourself for culinary genius!
Knives
Avoid buying a
Cooking and Baking Week
If you've seen Ratatouille (it's one of my favorite animated movies), the world-famous Chef Gusteau proclaims "Anyone can cook!" However, the more I cook and post pictures of my culinary creations on social media, the more my friends tell me that they're jealous or that they wish they could cook like me. As basically a beginner myself, this seems ridiculous, because I absolutely agree with Chef Gusteau, absolutely anyone CAN cook!
Not only is cooking possible for anyone, it's also quite a bit of fun and even can be a stress reliever (plus you get to eat food; where can you go wrong??). Maybe you're a little nerv
Cooking and Baking Week
Let's talk eating cheap!
Hi everyone, if you're like me you don't have a ton of extra cash to spend on keeping yourself and/or a whole family fed so the best course of action is to budget carefully when it comes to meals.
Today I'll discuss a few things you can do to get or keep your grocery bills down while still having good options to keep your tummy satisfied.
If you're a person who is keen on being fed Steak, Lobster, and Caviar on a regular basis but want to keep your grocery bills low, I have bad news for you! However, if you're a person who digs potatoes, pasta, and/or rice and want to keep your costs down,
The Good, the Bad and the Gluten by SinistrosePhosphate, journal
The Good, the Bad and the Gluten
Cooking and Baking Week
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is for general interest only. It’s not meant to act as a directed medical advice. If you think the information in this article pertains to you, please consult your physician for further details.
I still remember, the word “Gluten” was almost a non-entity about 6, 7 years ago other than in very specific circles. But now it’s almost inescapable. Everywhere you turn, items are proud to advertise the fact that they were, indeed, gluten free. It seems that every day people are finding gluten in new and surprising places and the path to being
Artisan Craft Week
A Crochet Tutorial by LoopTeeLoops
Hello! So you want to learn how to make your very own adorable Squirtle. Maybe you've crocheted before, maybe you're a complete beginner who's feeling just a little bit doubtful that you're up for this. If you already know how to crochet amigurumi, skip down to the pattern starting at the heading "what you'll need". If you're a beginner, keep reading.
First thing I like to tell people when they're learning amigurumi is: "if you can make a ball, you can make most amigurumi". I went through a few videos, and I found this one if you've never made a ball before:
Her way of making the
Artisan Craft Week: Wrap Up! by SinistrosePhosphate, journal
Artisan Craft Week: Wrap Up!
Artisan Craft Week
I hope you had a great week! I know we did! :D
I hope we are able to inspire you to start something new. And hopefully have fun in the process. You never know, maybe we can introduce you to something fun and exciting and creative. Besides... if we can do it, so can you! :w00t::w00t::w00t:
C'mon... what are you waiting for?
February24February28Artisan Craft Week
24th Monday
AM: Welcome to Artisan Craft week! by SinistrosePhosphate (https://www.deviantart.com/sinistrosephosphate) PM: So you wanna get into artisan crafts? by Fusainne (https://www.deviantart.com/fusainne) 25th Tuesday
AM: Yes! You can knit. Here's how by @Li0nfartPM: Photoshooting your crafts by Keila-the-fawncat (https://www.deviantart.com/keila-the-fawncat) 26th Wednesday
AM: Creating