Monday, June 30, 2008

Question of the Week - Brag a Little

This weekend is July 4th! We all know what that means in the USA... Barbeques, fireworks, and apple pie. What, you're not making apple pie from scratch? I sure am. Want to know why? Cause I'm an awesome baker.

I'm a pretty good cook, but I'm an excellent baker. My favorite recipes are simple ones, but I'll even make really hard items. I'm hoping to start learning how to make pastries soon. All in my noble quest for more delicious desserts.

I learned to love baking with my mom (in fact my apple pie recipe is hers), and I plan to bake with my kids as much as possible. Even this last weekend, when I was baking bread, the Pumpkin was in the sling on my hip, watching (and grabbing) me add flour and stir. For years, my neice has come over to my house to be my baking buddy, and we do make excellent holiday gifts for our family every Christmas. This is a tradition I hope to keep with my neice and add my own children to it. But not just for holidays.

I bake when I'm happy, when I'm depressed, when I'm in the mood for something sweet and when I want to show off. Like yesterday at a big family gathering, I brought homemade bread and from-scratch pudding. They of course got rave reviews. In fact, I'm going to make the pudding again this weekend and put strawberries and blueberries on it (red, white and blue for the holiday, of course) and serve it right next to my apple pies.

You want to come over and have some, don't you?

But that's not the question of the week. Here's the question of the week:

What are you really good at that you like to show off?

I've obviously already answered, so now it's your turn to brag!

16 comments:

Becoming Mommy said...

I'm a really good cook too. Although for me, it's not the deserts where I excell (if something's going to go terribly wrong, it'll be in a baked good). It's the meals. And that's my one domestic gift (i stink at sewing, etc.).

I learned to cook from my Mom, who cooks mediterranean style. But I've kind of gone off and started to do more exotic dishes and made up some things that'd be more Asian or Asian-fusion and Latin American.

I love to show off my cooking and have others taste it, but all too often when something looks...exotic...people want nothing to do with it. It's kind of upsetting when no one will even try it. They just poke.

Jan said...

I have a really nice singing voice. I'd never be tapped for opera -- it's not a really big voice -- but I have good pitch and can read music well and it's a simple, pure sound. I spent years with terrible stage fright, but now I love to sing for people, whether it's at church, for the kids, or at a karaoke bar.

Anonymous said...

Cooking appears to be the theme here. I'm an excellent curry cook actually, although this has never been confirmed by an Indonesian/Thai/Indian or Sri Lankan, but my Italian friends love my Indonesian Rendang, and Indian Chicken Tikka, and keep asking for invites for more. I'm also very good at making pasta, I mean the actual pasta itself, before the topping goes on, and tortellini and ravioli (from scratch).

Rudyinparis said...

I really had to think about this. And the process of thinking about it kind of bummed me out because it made me realize I'm not feeling super-great about my parenting these days. But I was finally able to come up with these: I really like to read out loud and it's been so great and fun recently because Eldest wants to be hearing "chapter" books, so I got to read Charlotte's Web recently, etc. I'm good at reading out loud! I used to joke that I wanted to have kids someday just so I could have someone to read to.
Also, I'm not a great cook--my ambition far exceeds my ability, as they say--but I do really value home cooking and trying different things and try in my own behavior to model healthy & happy eating habits. We do sit down together as a family and have homemade meals and put music on and all that.

Rudyinparis said...

I didn't want to just sound like a sad-sack, so I have to add: I make the most amazing biscuits. I really do.

Anonymous said...

Cooking for me too. I really like making things for people say when they have babies. My old stand-bys are chicken pot pie and baked ziti. They travel well and generally get good reviews. I also make an excellent pot roast, my husband finally admitted mine is better than his mother's recently. :)

La folle maman said...

I kinda feel like rudyinparis. I can't really think of anything I'd want to brag about. My cooking is so-so. My baking, well, I don't really bake that often.

I have made my own curtains before but really, how hard is that? Sew two squares and VOILA, curtains. Although, I'm especially proud of my kitchen curtains because they actually have a lining! And the sewing lines are pretty straight. So I guess that's what I'll brag about, my kitchen curtains are awesome!

Mom101 said...

Absolutely totally not copping out on the answer: Apple pie.

I've even blogged about it before.

I'm really not a cook, but boy does everyone save room for dessert on Thanksgiving when mama's pie makes an appearance.

Shellie said...

I guess I can't think of anything off-hand. I would brag that while I don't excel at anything in particular, I can do pretty good at a lot of things. If only I had the desire or the stamina or the opportunities or whatever to excel at something in particular, maybe I would. I'm content to just do a decent job of lots of things. Oh, but if you'd like to hear bragging, I just thought of a thing to brag about! I am so proud: My teenage daughter went to Idaho this last weekend to see her cousins. She was having a hard time adjusting the first little while and one day she called me and vented. BIG TIME! I listened and sympathized and made suggestions and tried to help her see things in a positive light as she started to go hashing through her complaints in circles and I frankly was getting a bit tired of it all. Finally she calmed down and went on to have a great time. Today when she got home and told me about the rest of her trip, she said, oh, and Anna (the cousin) said to tell you you're the coolest aunt in the world. Why? Because I don't freak out and you can tell me anything. Her cousin said she could never talk to her mom the way she heard my daughter tell all to me. So, today, I'm feeling pretty cool!

Parisienne Mais Presque said...

I love to bake, too, and I love bringing good ol' American favorites to my French colleagues. They love chocolate chip cookies. To me they're nothing next to a French madeleine or a sablé, but hey, they're impressed, so I'm not complaining.

Caramama, I want to know you manage to bake with the Pumpkin in the sling. I know nearly-one-year-old Le Petit would be fascinated by baking with me, but I have no idea how I'd deal with the grabbing at everything!

I love showing off my knowledge of obscure facts about French history, because it impresses the heck out of people who don't expect it of a foreigner. And I find it fascinating.

Of course, the holes in my general knowledge of major things like the Revolution -- a confusing can of worms to me -- probably fools no one. Oh well, some day I'll study it with a bit more method.

Anonymous said...

I have a decent singing voice, and I even get requests for solo performances...okay, okay...they come from my mother-in-law's church...but they are still requests! I also make some mean cheesecakes, when I have a decent oven. And you know what, since I feel like bragging a little more...I can belly dance and do it pretty well. Hey...that feels good to think about things I like about myself, instead of concentrating on the things I do inadequately. Thanks caramama.

Becoming Mommy said...

Don't sell yourself short. Being able to sew curtains is actually a skill.
I've tried sewing. Took lessons even. It turned out bad.
I sewed things to myself somehow...
I got fabric wadded up and shredded in the bobbin holder...
The thread gets all snaggled and theres a giant wad (like a pom-pom, but not intentional) permanentely stuck there....
So, For some people, two squares of straight seams actually are too hard.

Karen said...

I guess I'd have to say that sewing is my bag. I just love it!

I used to cook but then I had kids. Too many years of "ewww, yuck!" turned me from that.

sheSaidC2 said...

um I love to bake, but don't do it much, everyone likes what I make but I don't think it's my brag skill.

I am actually uncomfortable bragging about anything (stupid introvert!) but I LOVE getting complemented on my art, photograph mainly at the moment.

Wineplz said...

cooking...when I have the time and motivation to do it...which I really don't anymore. I make an apple pie (with pre-made crusts...sorry!) that people ask for and I do alright at other things.

KG said...

I have a great rack! *snort*

Also - I'm smart and proud of it.

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