Brittany says: "I've decided that I need a new hobby."

Lately I have had way too much free time on my hands. Granted, I am stuck at home every day with no car and no real responsibilities. To some that may sound great, but believe me after a few weeks and months it gets pretty boring! To remedy the situation I have been trying to come up with new hobbies that don't require me to go anywhere or spend too much. My only problem is that I get really obsessive about the new things I try and then burn out really quick. I have tried reading books, doing puzzles, blogging, playing video games, doing yoga, studying for the GRE, crocheting, playing the piano, professional couch potato, etc.

Currently I have decided to make baking my new hobby. Anyone who knows me well may laugh at this new goal. My cooking/baking abilities have kind of been a running joke in my family since I was a kid. I can honestly say I never cooked a complete meal until I was married (other than spaghetti.) While I have since become an adequate cook, my baking abilities have yet to be tested. Honestly, baking kind of scares me. But I have decided that if I can get an A in Abstract Algebra and survive teaching junior high I should be able to learn to bake. (That's what I tell myself every time I have to do something really hard. It's my own personal pep talk; just insert the hard thing in place of bake.)

My first step in this process was baking a cake for Jason's birthday. I admit that the cake was from a box, but it had two layers with frosting in between and it was decorated. (Baby steps.)

I also made blueberry muffins from scratch and a homemade pie for Thanksgiving. Neither turned out amazing, but they were not bad.

Jason and I also made really good pizza dough and pizzas. The pizza dough was definitely my first big success in baking. (Even though it was a joint effort.) We invited Kyle and Lauren over and made our own personal pizzas.



This week I decided to make Valentine's Day sugar cookies. I know Valentine's Day is still a few weeks away, but I figure by then I will either have a baby or be seriously uncomfortable! I was really excited about how these turned out. It took a lot of trial and error, but it was fun.
My next goal is to bake bread and/or rolls. So if any of you have a really good recipe let me know!