Living with a baker

For the few of the world blessed with living with a baker here are some things you may not know.  Be forewarned.

1. The urge to bake comes and cannot be ignored.

One evening I was surfing on the net and had an urge for something sweet.  Ten minutes later blueberry buttermilk muffins were in the oven.  The hubby didn't even realize I had made something until he could smell what was baking.  "You made muffins in 30 minutes?" he inquired.  "Yep.  I wanted something sweet."  So beware, baking may come at any time, day or night.


2. Baking may not be for you.

One day I made a batch of goodies destined for our church.  I left the house to run some errands and came home to find about 1/3 of what I baked already gone.  The culprit?  One hungry hubby.  He had thought that I had one of my baking urges (see above) and just whipped something up.  After a little chastisement he now knows to ask before taking anything that has been baked and sitting on the counter.

3. Get used to large quantities.

If you visit a home of a baker and spy their pantry you may be taken aback by the sheer size of some items.  Warehouse stores will be your friend.  I buy 10 kg of flour, 4 kg of sugar, and the largest size of other items I can find.  Buying in bulk helps save money and when you bake as often as I do, it makes sense.  I don't have time to run to the supermarket to buy another 2 kg of flour if I run out.  It's easier just to buy the larger size.  This is why I have the huge 1.5 kg bag of coconut sitting in my pantry.  And the 2 kg bag of chocolate chips.  And the 1 kg cocoa powder.  And the 1.3 kg box of crisp rice cereal.  And the 2 kg bag of rolled oats.  I may have a slight problem.

4. Get used to multiples.

Similar to the above point, when something goes on sale or I can get bonus points for an item, I will buy it.  "Honey, why do we have 10 large boxes of cereal?"  "Points!" I reply.  The hubby knows now that when he sees multiples of the same thing I got a deal.  I have been known to pick up 8 large containers of yogurt, up to 20 boxes of cereal, 8 boxes of pizza, or even 12 bottles of salsa, thinking we will eventually go through it all.  Of course some can be used for my baking addiction urges, but other times it's just for the points!  Believe you me, those points have paid for holiday gifts for a few years now.

5. People start giving you things.

Ever since I've let people know that I like to bake, I had people just give me stuff.  Sometimes it's practical stuff.  A friend's mother had passed and she was a bit of a hoarder.  She called me up and asked if I wanted some baker's chocolate.  We've all been there.  You're at the supermarket getting supplies for your next baking urge and you can't remember if you have something in your pantry.  Let's say baker's chocolate for this example.  You know you used the chocolate recently but don't remember if there will be enough for your next recipe, so you buy another box.  Then you get home and find out there's already an almost full box in the cupboard.  Now you have more.  That's what my friend's mom was like.  So I ended up with boxes and boxes of half full baker's chocolate.  I condensed everything, but there was still plenty to fool around with.

I've received hardened brown sugar from a friend.  (Easy fix, just add a slice of bread to soften) and most recently some whey when a friend of mine was making cheese from scratch.  It's great for me.  I get free stuff and then I get the joy of trying to figure out how to use it up.  See earlier posts for how I used it in my baking.

Any others come to mind?