All I can think about right now is cooking and baking super delicious foods.
I want to throw a brunch party or maybe just a regular party and cook all sorts of awesome things that people will love. I want tons of people to squish into my little apartment and enjoy themselves while they eat the food I made.
I want to make pumpkin spice lattes in the crock pot and pumpkin french toast and tomato basil soup and spinach dip and baked french toast and homemade mac and cheese and cheesecakes and cookies and banana bread and pretty much anything else you can think of!
I even started making a list of the treats I was going to make for Christmas and the friends I was going to give them to. Then I started thinking if people would rather have a plate full of desserts dropped of at their house or a something savory like homemade bread sticks and soup? Then I wrote a message to some of my girlfriends about a brunch party, realized halfway through my apartment is a giant disaster because I am moving in a few weeks and I don't really have the time or space to do such a thing right now and deleted that. Then I thought about calling my mom and asking her if I could be in charge of breakfast the day after Thanksgiving and imagined myself getting up really early in the morning to make a delicious breakfast for my family and I am not a morning person!! Then just now as I was writing this post I thought maybe I should call my mom and volunteer to cook all of Thanksgiving dinner, which I am sure she would take me up on and I am sure I would regret later when my mind is less preoccupied by food.
Its not even that I want to eat all that food, I mean I do and I probably would, but my main motivation is just cooking it all. It is literally all I have thought about for the past 4 hours.
I already decided I am going to make banana bread with some old bananas at my house and give it to my family when I see them at my little sisters volleyball game on Saturday, which will hopefully help cure a little of my cooking craziness but this is just further evidence that I need to open a bakery/cafe. It is a dream I have always had but I have to find a way to make it a reality, even if it takes 10 years.
In the meantime I will day dream about food while I work and cook tasty things when I can and hopefully get hired by someone to cater their party or family get-together (see here if you want more details about that) and continue to work on my skills.
But for now Pinterest and the many recipes I have pinned are calling my name, I have to see what else is out there for me to dream about making.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Judgement Day
Sometimes I feel like everyday is judgement day. I am being judged based on what I wear that day, the music I listen to, the things I post on facebook, the way I chose to get married, even the person I chose to marry and a million other seemingly insignificant choices and decisions I make every single day.
Why do we as human beings feel it necessary to judge other people every step of the way?
I read a column posted on a friends facebook page the yesterday about a guy who had chosen to wait until he got married to have sex and how he and his wife had done things the "right" way. He said that because they had waited and had an amazing wedding night that they were right and everyone else who gets married after sleeping with, living with or otherwise being intimate with their future partner was wrong. Yes that is the way he chose to do it based on his beliefs and values but just because my beliefs and values might be different doesn't mean I am wrong; different does not equal wrong.
I don't understand why there always has to be a right and a wrong. Not just in this instance but in everything. Why is it necessary to judge someone because of their lifestyle choices, just because what they chose to do is different from what you chose to do?
I feel like this is a lesson we all learned in elementary school and then forgot and now we need to learn again.
You never know what someone else's circumstances are and why they chose the things they did and if maybe you had been in their shoes you might have made the same choices and then you would be the one getting judged.
This goes hand in hand with the blog I posted last month about gay rights. Just because someone else's lifestyle choices and opinions differ from yours doesn't mean they are doing any harm to you. In some instances that is not the case, obviously when someone chooses to go on a shooting rampage or drive drunk that impacts other people but in most cases nothing about my day to day life has anything to do with another person's day to day life.
I feel like a good percentage of the issues of this campaign season would be non-issues if we stopped judging other people and thinking that because their opinion if different that they are wrong. The issues revolving around birth control, abortion and gay rights would be non-issues.
Let me live my life the way I want, without judgement or discrimination, and I will grant you the same courtesy.
Why do we as human beings feel it necessary to judge other people every step of the way?
I read a column posted on a friends facebook page the yesterday about a guy who had chosen to wait until he got married to have sex and how he and his wife had done things the "right" way. He said that because they had waited and had an amazing wedding night that they were right and everyone else who gets married after sleeping with, living with or otherwise being intimate with their future partner was wrong. Yes that is the way he chose to do it based on his beliefs and values but just because my beliefs and values might be different doesn't mean I am wrong; different does not equal wrong.
I don't understand why there always has to be a right and a wrong. Not just in this instance but in everything. Why is it necessary to judge someone because of their lifestyle choices, just because what they chose to do is different from what you chose to do?
I feel like this is a lesson we all learned in elementary school and then forgot and now we need to learn again.
You never know what someone else's circumstances are and why they chose the things they did and if maybe you had been in their shoes you might have made the same choices and then you would be the one getting judged.
This goes hand in hand with the blog I posted last month about gay rights. Just because someone else's lifestyle choices and opinions differ from yours doesn't mean they are doing any harm to you. In some instances that is not the case, obviously when someone chooses to go on a shooting rampage or drive drunk that impacts other people but in most cases nothing about my day to day life has anything to do with another person's day to day life.
I feel like a good percentage of the issues of this campaign season would be non-issues if we stopped judging other people and thinking that because their opinion if different that they are wrong. The issues revolving around birth control, abortion and gay rights would be non-issues.
Let me live my life the way I want, without judgement or discrimination, and I will grant you the same courtesy.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Reality Check
I like to pretend sometimes that I am healthy. I like think that because I can (or could a few months ago) run 3 miles without walking, complete Ragnar and don't have high blood pressure that my weight is under control. It works most of the time until the real world decides to slap me in the face.
I got a letter in the mail today saying that our insurance is changing and those people who don't smoke and have a BMI of less than 30 will get a big discount on insurance, like a $840 discount. Since I don't smoke I will still get a $420 discount but because of my BMI my insurance will increase $420 a year, on top of the 11% it was already going to go up.
While I don't agree with BMI as the definition of a healthy person, because like I said I have a healthy blood pressure, I don't have high cholesterol and have very few weight related health problems at this point in my life, this is the method my insurance has chosen to employ and therefore according to them I will be classified as obese. Ouch. I have been working with a trainer over the past several months and have lost 20 pounds since the first of year but the reality is I am still more than 50 pounds from being in the BMI range I would need to be for my insurance not to go up. What's worse is they, for some unknown reason, are doing these health checks in October (why not December right before the new year?) meaning I have zero chance of getting anywhere near the healthy range before then.
It is really sobering and disappointing to realize how far out of control I let my weight get and to see now how much it really is going to cost me (not to mention all the extra clothes I've had to buy over the years and paying for a trainers to help me) and to know that it all could've been avoided if I had been a little more diligent in working out and had a little more self control when it comes to food.
Right now, I can honestly say I have never been more motivated to lose weight because it sucks to have to pay extra because of my weight. I hope this is a the push I need to finally really get my weight under control and keep it there because I want to get there but I have been lacking motivation the past couple weeks, or months maybe.
The good news is at some point in the year we will be able to do another health check and if our BMI is within the right range at that time we can get some of that extra money we paid back. I don't know when that is happening but that is my new goal to hit my target weight. I know it will be hard but in the end it will be worth it, not only in terms of money but also in terms of my overall health and well being.
Wish me luck.
I got a letter in the mail today saying that our insurance is changing and those people who don't smoke and have a BMI of less than 30 will get a big discount on insurance, like a $840 discount. Since I don't smoke I will still get a $420 discount but because of my BMI my insurance will increase $420 a year, on top of the 11% it was already going to go up.
While I don't agree with BMI as the definition of a healthy person, because like I said I have a healthy blood pressure, I don't have high cholesterol and have very few weight related health problems at this point in my life, this is the method my insurance has chosen to employ and therefore according to them I will be classified as obese. Ouch. I have been working with a trainer over the past several months and have lost 20 pounds since the first of year but the reality is I am still more than 50 pounds from being in the BMI range I would need to be for my insurance not to go up. What's worse is they, for some unknown reason, are doing these health checks in October (why not December right before the new year?) meaning I have zero chance of getting anywhere near the healthy range before then.
It is really sobering and disappointing to realize how far out of control I let my weight get and to see now how much it really is going to cost me (not to mention all the extra clothes I've had to buy over the years and paying for a trainers to help me) and to know that it all could've been avoided if I had been a little more diligent in working out and had a little more self control when it comes to food.
Right now, I can honestly say I have never been more motivated to lose weight because it sucks to have to pay extra because of my weight. I hope this is a the push I need to finally really get my weight under control and keep it there because I want to get there but I have been lacking motivation the past couple weeks, or months maybe.
The good news is at some point in the year we will be able to do another health check and if our BMI is within the right range at that time we can get some of that extra money we paid back. I don't know when that is happening but that is my new goal to hit my target weight. I know it will be hard but in the end it will be worth it, not only in terms of money but also in terms of my overall health and well being.
Wish me luck.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Mini Scrumptious
As many of you know I have longed dreamed and talked about opening a bakery/cafe but the reality is having the financials to do that is a long ways in the future but I still want to improve my cooking skills and hopefully make people happy with food.
To accomplish that I have devised a plan for a mini-catering/food service business.
The idea is simple, people want to have a home cooked meal for their party, family-get-together, social gathering, birthdays or whatever other occasion but don't want to cook, don't know how or aren't very good cooks themselves. That is where I come in. I can be hired to come in and cook dinner (or lunch or breakfast or the meal of your choosing) for you and friends and family. It could be anything from a simple appetizer spread or dessert bar to something as elaborate as 4-course meal.
The cost will include grocery shopping, the cost of groceries, food preparation and plating and clean-up.
If this sounds like something you are interested in please email me at paige@scrumptiousbakeryandcafe.com with the details, when and where your gathering would be, what kinds of food you would like prepared and how many people will be attending. I will then create a menu or two for you to choose from and email that to you along with a quote for how much it will cost.
If you like the idea spread the word to friends and family. I live in the Salt Lake area but am willing to travel within reason and with appropriate notice. Since I am new to this please give me at least 1 week notice for any events you may want me to cook for.
I look forward to serving you!
As a side note scrumptiousbakeryandcafe.com is not yet up and running, just email services so if you try to go to that website you will get an error, but I hope to have it ready to go soon.
As a side note scrumptiousbakeryandcafe.com is not yet up and running, just email services so if you try to go to that website you will get an error, but I hope to have it ready to go soon.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
The things I learn from Google
I have a motto in life, it goes something like this, "If Google doesn't know the answer, no one needs to know the answer."
Basically it is a testament to my love for Google and it knowing the answer to every question I could possibly imagine. But every once in a while I wish Google didn't know quite so much or rather that I didn't know how to use Google.
This happens when I Google things about medical conditions I have and stumble upon stories about how a women in North Carolina or somewhere like that died from a UTI (urinary tract infection) in 5 days from the start of her symptoms. You can put that towards the top of the list of things I would be better off not knowing. Since I get UTIs quite frequently you can imagine why this information was distressing.
Or when I Google what to expect during an upcoming medical procedure and the results are kind of scary.
I think there is a pattern here. Maybe I should just stop Googling anything related to medicine and my health, it might save me quite a bit of anxiety and stress.
Unfortunately, what has been read cannot be unread and is now forever on the list of things that I know and here I am stressing out about my doctors appointment this afternoon. Damn you Google.
Basically it is a testament to my love for Google and it knowing the answer to every question I could possibly imagine. But every once in a while I wish Google didn't know quite so much or rather that I didn't know how to use Google.
This happens when I Google things about medical conditions I have and stumble upon stories about how a women in North Carolina or somewhere like that died from a UTI (urinary tract infection) in 5 days from the start of her symptoms. You can put that towards the top of the list of things I would be better off not knowing. Since I get UTIs quite frequently you can imagine why this information was distressing.
Or when I Google what to expect during an upcoming medical procedure and the results are kind of scary.
I think there is a pattern here. Maybe I should just stop Googling anything related to medicine and my health, it might save me quite a bit of anxiety and stress.
Unfortunately, what has been read cannot be unread and is now forever on the list of things that I know and here I am stressing out about my doctors appointment this afternoon. Damn you Google.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)