How my 100 cookie challenge crumbled

I am a known stress baker, I have known this for a while. My stress-baking journey came to a pivotal point when I embarked on the 100 cookie challenge at the beginning of the year (see post here). I took up this challenge to try new recipes, cook/bake a whole book (which has always been a dream of mine), and bring tasty treats to my coworkers to enjoy during stressful periods at work. Even though trying new ingredients and sharing cookies was a blast, the challenge only lasted 4 months and 10 recipes.

I stopped baking the 100 cookie book for the following reasons: 

• The recipes were not good

• The results were giving me more stress

• Finding ingredients was getting annoying

• Most of the cookies were not ones I would have craved

• My pantry was running out of space because of all the different ingredients I was buying and using ⅛ tsp of

• It wasn't bringing any joy to anybody

So the whole idea collapses. I was making bad cookies that were not worth the trouble. But my need to stress bake needed a new outlet and that is when I realized how many recipes/ideas I have saved that I have always wanted to try and haven't found a time to do it yet. I was limiting myself to only cookies when it could be so much more. I had saved recipes for dinners, cakes, snacks, and extravagant and complex dishes, there was no limit. The only thing I had to do was put the recipes/ideas together into a spreadsheet and start cooking. Create my own cook book that I can mark complete at the end. It's been 2 weeks since I started this journey and I’m so excited to keep going. 

Pretzels have been on my bucket list for years! It made me happy to bake something that wasn’t a cookie.

The end of my 100 cookie journey was tough, I rarely leave things unfinished. In high school, I read an entire series of books that I absolutely hated just because I didn't want to leave it unfinished. I have learned that letting things go is about valuing your time. I wouldn't have gained much if I had finished that book. I baked a variety of cookies, ginger, lemonade, crinkle and of course chocolate chip. I wanted to believe I was wrong after the first bite but the cookies just weren't it. Ian was being very honest with his reviews which grounded me and reassured me that those recipes were not good. I do want to take ownership that maybe it was me not making the cookies correctly which is why I diversified the recipes and finished with a chocolate chip recipe. 

The recipe that ended it all.

I am one of the believers that you can truly tell a cook/baker, through their basics. If your chocolate chip or brownie does not leave me wanting more, it is not worth my time. That is the impression I got from the whole book. If you go out for pizza and you don't want to go back again, that wasn't a pizza worth your time/money. There are too many options for me to decide to go back again or make the same recipe. I am savage when it comes to food, if I don’t like it the first time that is it. There are places I will keep going back to, so I know amazing food exists. These places/recipes are worth my time again (sometimes) more than me trying a new place/recipe that could make it to my top list. I mean, that is the core of this blog, family, friends and amazing food. I don't like writing about bad food. 

This weekend I made Crème Brûlée, also not a cookie!

My new objective is to bake/cook 100 recipes that I am tracking on a spreadsheet. (See 100 recipes here). The recipes that make the list are things I have always wanted to try and make or new things that make my mouth water. The list is ever-evolving and has a lot of space to add more. I am very excited about this. It's the best of both worlds, a spreadsheet with a goal and tasty food I want to eat and share. I hope you follow the journey of the 100 recipes.

Since I’m sharing all my non-cookies, here is my Swedish Princess Cake from a class I took this month.

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