How To Train for a (Baking) Marathon, and Other Takeaways from a Self-Care Saturday

Right off the bat, I think my title might be flawed in calling this weekend “self-care.” That word may conjure images of face masks, bubble baths, lit candles, and an overarching feeling of tranquility and relaxation. 

More accurately, this day consisted of 13 hours on my feet, a treacherous rainy grocery store trip, washing every single dish I own at least three separate times, and obsessing over the fate of pastel pink nightmares. If we’re being honest though, for me, this was the highest form of self-care. 

But first, a brief philosophical aside, because this is an MMS post, after all.

A Brief Philosophical Aside

I have a long-standing theory that you can tell a lot about a person based on the type of shoes they wear. It’s hard to describe without sounding incredibly judgmental, but I feel like if you had to make a snap judgment about a person, the shoes would tell you almost everything you need to get a good feel. In a certain sense, I think this theory can be extended not to other people, but to myself, and not to shoes but to the pastries I bake. So really nothing to do with my original theory at all. 

Stay with me here, though. 

If I were to tell you my favorite thing to bake was banana chocolate chip muffins, how would that paint an image of me in your head? 

What if I told you my favorite thing to bake was jalapeno cheese sourdough bread? Would your view change?

Now then, what would it say about my personality if I baked cheddar, bacon, chive scones, French macarons, and brown butter chocolate chip cookies in the same day?

I’ll answer that for you, it would say “girl who probably could use a therapist but aggressively bakes as a coping mechanism instead.”

-Me

Self-Care Saturday

In true form, I had been keeping a laundry list of recipes I wanted to try out but hadn’t had the time, with a savory scone penning the top spot. When I woke up on a Saturday to rain splattering my windows, I knew my time had come. First, I laid in bed for another 45 minutes because it was a rainy weekend morning and that’s the law, and then I got to work.

Bake #1: Savory Scones

I donned my comfiest sweats and slippers, made a cup of coffee in my favorite mug, put on my Cozy Baking mix (a far cry from my running playlist thank goodness) and began what should have been my sole baking project for the day.

And true to my word, I fried up the bacon, chopped the onions, snacked on some of the cheese as I worked, realized I didn’t have heavy cream on hand, used almond milk and cashew yogurt as a replacement (I know I hate me too), and hoped for the best. And that should have been the end of this story.

But of course it’s not. It was still storming outside and well, it’s me we’re talking about here.

“I mean, my baking stuff is still out…” I thought to myself, already knowing how this would end.

I flipped through the options of baking projects in my head; a breakfast pastry was done already so croissants and cinnamon rolls are out, bread is too quick to assemble, I just made cookies last week, brownies are too boring… that only leaves one option for bake #2: French Macarons, obviously.

I say as if those are the words of a sane person. 

Bake #2: Fragile Demon Cookies (French Macarons)

I had attempted the little guys once a few years prior and with a hazy memory, I had falsely positive associations in my mind. What my brain failed to conjure were the images of sifting and whipping and nonstop hand stirring, the pink sticky goo everywhere, and the overarching anxiety that persists through the entire process, knowing that one small misstep could render hours of baking useless. 

Which is more or less exactly what happened.

First I braved the storm to procure almond flour, somehow buying the one ingredient I actually needed and then an additional $70 on who-knows-what; I sifted, I measured, I whipped, I whipped some more, and then whipped even more. And then I whipped more. 

The thing about macarons is there are many, many places where things can go catastrophically wrong. If you don’t sift properly, they can be grainy. If you don’t whip enough, they’ll be too lumpy. If you whip too much, they’ll spread too much. If they don’t rest enough, they’ll crack. If it’s too humid, they’ll crack. If you breathe on them wrong, they’ll crack.

And my Achilles’ heel, if the oven is too hot…they crack.

The Frozen Pizza of Death

At this point I had been baking for probably 8-9 hours and was in dire need of sustenance. Naturally real cooking was out of the question, so Trader Joe’s frozen pizza it was. And while this seems like a classic Megan tangent, I hate to say it’s actually a very integral part of this story.

You see, the pizza called for a 450 F bake temperature. My sweet delicate snowflake macarons, on the other hand, demanded a temperate 275 F. And your girl here gravely misjudged how long it would take for the oven to cool down. Like putting a Californian in the middle of a Midwest July heat, I accidentally subjected my poor fragile demon cookies to a climate they just were not cut out for. 

And just like a Californian, it was only a matter of time before they cracked. 

– Me

I licked my wounds of hours of baking down the drain as I staged the only three viable macarons for their obligatory photoshoot. And that should have been the end of this story. 

But as Queen Taylor casually laments from her moss roof “I couldn’t leave well enough alone,” I too felt like I had some unfinished business. And there was a chocolate chip cookie recipe I was just dying to try out. And it was still raining. And I had nothing better to do. At this point it would have been wrong if I didn’t. 

Bake #3: Chocolate Chip Cookies

Which brings us to recipe #3, Jacques something or another chocolate chip cookies. There’s not too much to tell about the baking process for these – it was an efficient operation by this point of the night. I will say this, though: my mom makes the best chocolate chip cookies in the world. These were a close second. 

So, with that in mind, I will close my “self-care” baking marathon out with some final thoughts:

Final Thoughts

1. I am a banana chocolate chip muffin girl through-and-through, so take that as you will and feel free to judge accordingly
2. Baking is most definitely an acceptable alternative to therapy
3. Macarons can rot in he…the bottom of my 450 F pizza oven
4. Never discount the benefit of taking a self-care day, however that manifests for you
5. I need to find more relaxing hobbies

Have a wonderful weekend and maybe try out your own recipe… or three!