Norwegian Baking

Ever since I was little, I’ve loved baking, always found it to be a fun side-hobby, never focusing an overabundant amount of time on it, but trying to never let it die fully all the same. With this project, and a couple of other coincidences that seemed to line up, I figured making food wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to do. So, lo and behold, I picked one of the cook books from the shelf that seemed at least a little applicable, and set to work. I’ve interacted with the book a slight amount, done some for this project, but just haven’t really gotten around to posting about it, blogging about my life isn’t my ideal way to spend an evening. However, thanks to “Eating for Life” by Bill Phillips, and this class, I have something to blog about.

Sorting through the book, page after page, nothing really caught my attention, going over good habits, healthy foods, things that didn’t really grab me by the shoulders and insist I stay awake, resisting the urge to doze off. That was until the book surprised me, “Forget all that stuff!” the book insisted, after going on and on about amounts and combinations of foods (Phillips). I couldn’t believe my eyes. “I’ve discovered that the healthiest people, with the healthiest eating habits, enjoy eating ‘fun foods’ that are not necessarily the most nutritious, from time to time” (Phillips 45). I found this encouraging, maybe this book wouldn’t bore me to death after all.

I asked myself what I would define as a “fun food,” and my Norwegian heritage popped into my head, this seemed like a great opportunity to explore a culture I have always admired. I went on the internet and found a few recipes, but finally narrowed it down to a few variations of a single bread, called Julekake. My mom and I set out for the store to get the ingredients, and for once, I found myself excited, almost jumping up and down with anticipation.

After getting started, it turned out to be more difficult than I thought, I was beginning to doubt if this “fun food” would be fun after all. However, a strong suggestion that could be applied to baking, cooking, all recipes, caught my attention, pulling me away from my dilemma for a few minutes. “You simply need to plan, prepare, and then patiently follow the directions that are provided” (Phillips 70). This gave me a spark of hope, I knew it was common sense, and I’d skipped step one of the advice, and didn’t feel like step two would help, but it gave me an idea of where I went wrong.

As I began to see the pieces click together, I regained more hope, thinking that maybe, even after the turbulence I’d experienced, maybe not all hope was lost, and maybe neither were my wits.

After mixing everything together and adding a ridiculous amount of flour, I kneaded the bread, which after getting the hang of it was actually quite fun, and I let it sit. Then, moving it on to a baking sheet, I let it sit again, and waited impatiently in the meantime. The final step, putting it in the oven and letting it bake made me hope beyond hope that it wouldn’t all be for nothing, but there was nothing I could really do at that point but continue to wait.

In the end, it seemed to work out all right, which made me very happy, even though I ended up not being the biggest fan of my creation, discovering that candied fruits aren’t really to my liking. However, the rest of my family seemed to enjoy it, so at least something good came of it.

Have you had any similar experiences? Did things turn out better than you expected them to?

Citation
Phillips, Bill. Eating for Life. Golden, CO: High Point Media, 2003. Print.