NaBloPoMo Day 3: Hobbies

Hobbies! Hobbies are basically what run my life and most of my thoughts. Sometimes I wish I dedicated more mental space to social issues, charity, or somehow bettering the world.

For a long time, I was the type of person who didn't have any hobbies, and now I probably have too many!

Running: I've already written about running so I'm not going to write about it again. I try to run at least once a week, preferably more. Since I'm training for a long race now, I will be running about 3-4 times a week starting soon.


Curling: I started curling in Iqaluit in 2009 and I'm still keeping at it, although I am curling less this year as this autumn has been so busy and I needed a bit of a break. When I am curling, it's once a week.

Hockey: I started in 2013 and I love it, although I am finding it hard to improve given there are precious few classes for adults, especially where I live. I play twice a week.


Sewing/quilting: I'm going to write more about it tomorrow, but sewing is the main thing I find hard to balance with everything else. On average I sit down at my machine once or twice a month, but I'd ideally like to increase that to once or twice a week.

I also go to a quilter's guild once a month and it's a meeting where we talk about all things quilting.

Hand embroidery: I love doing hand embroidery but I never seem to dedicate enough time to it. It's a time consuming craft and no matter how much my brain seems to burst with ideas, I don't often to sit down and work on it. I'd say I do one or two small hand embroidery projects a year.


Baking/cake decorating: I've always loved to bake goodies. I don't get too fancy, but I love making squares, cakes, truffles and cookies. In 2012, I took three of the Wilton classes (which I blogged about). I loved doing the classes although they were a lot of work! I never planned to decorate cakes regularly or professionally, I just like having the skills tucked away for when I do need them. I'd say I bake maybe once or twice a month, but sometimes more.

So as you can see, I keep pretty busy. All of this is on top of working full-time, doing normal adult things like cooking, errands, regular orthodontist appointments, and making time to go out of town 2-3 weekends a month to see Anthony. It's a busy life. I used to watch movies and hang out with friends when I was younger, but I don't really do that anymore because I don't have time. I also used to be involved in community theatre but I've more or less given up on that due to time restraints as well.

I love having so many hobbies but I find myself often feeling guilty that I can't dedicate more time to each of them. Both running and sewing take up a considerable amount of time and for me, aren't just as easy as jumping out the door for a quick run, or turning on the sewing machine and sewing. Running requires 15-20 minutes of prep time because I have to take my inhaler, and then I need to shower when I get home. My desk is also my sewing table so I have to set everything up if I want to do any bit of sewing. Generally if I'm doing a lot of sewing, I'm not doing much running, and vice versa.

It is frustrating feeling guilty so much of the time about these things, and certainly I didn't take up hobbies just to have negative feelings about it. I'll be writing more about it on the 6th but I think I am turning a corner in spending my time at home more efficiently. Easier said than done, though!

Wilton Classes Warning

After slaving away for an about an hour tonight in preparation for my second class tomorrow, I decided it would be wise of me to provide a disclaimer to anyone interested in taking the Wilton method of cake decorating classes.

This is neither a cheap nor a small side project. It is actually quite a bit of work preparing everything.

For example, here is everything I have to bring tomorrow, laid out on my carpet:

If it doesn't look like a lot, consider the fact there are a lot of odds and ends in my kit trays. Not only do you have to bring all these things, but you have to buy them, make them, and then remember to bring them!

Making your cakes and frosting is the most time-consuming part, and consider that you spend time going to the store to buy the items as well, plus the clean up afterwards.

Making frosting. 

So to sum up, you shouldn't take these courses unless you have the time and money...specifically:

1. The money to buy all the decorating items you need. Do you need a big kit like mine? No, probably not, but many of the items in there make life a lot easier. Even if you are going to cut corners by using parchment bags and buy items only as you need them, there are still several items you need: cake pans, food colours, spatulas, etc...

2. The money to buy the cake/frosting ingredients you'll need. Eggs, milk, oil, sugar, flour, icing sugar, shortening/butter, vanilla...at the very least.

3. The time to bake cakes and prepare frosting. Cutting corners by buying frosting is not going to help you since icing consistency and icing recipes are a big part of the course. Your projects may not turn out very well if you buy premade frosting, not to mention you are specifically asked in the course to make a specific recipe. And if you want to cut corners, it begs the question as to why you would take up a hobby that requires such painstaking attention to detail?

4. The time to go out and buy groceries, attend every 2-hour class (4/course), and clean up your mess afterwards at home and at the course. Unless you have a personal assistant, there is no getting out of these.

If you've read all these and it doesn't sound like a big deal to you, then have at 'er. But if you are a busy person with precious few hours to spare, you may want to think about it in detail before you decide to commit. That's the thing, learning to decorate cakes (or really anything) is a commitment and you should be fully-invested or else you are not going to receive the full benefit of the instruction.

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If you're curious as to what's in the first photo, here's a list of everything:

Wilton gel colouring pack, 3 Wilton gel colours, J-Cloth, cake pattern, Decorating Basics lesson plan, Wilton no-colour butter flavour, Wilton meringue powder, cherry pie filling, top shelf of Wilton Decorator Preferred Kit (inside top shelf: couplers, silicone tip covers, tips, notepad, pen, piping gel, toothpicks, decorator brushes), 2 chocolate cake layers, Wilton ready-to-use decorator icing, cake leveler, icing sugar, 1 batch medium consistency frosting, 1 batch thin consistency chocolate frosting, Wilton disposable bags package, bottom tray of the WDPK (pictured inside are featherweight decorating bags, disposable bags, flower sticker templates, cake strips, flower lifter), cake carry-and-display case, small angled spatula, large angled spatula, scissors, Wilton show-and-serve cake board, 3 small plastic containers

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In other news, I am having a hard time typing the words came, cane, case, care, cape...my hands automatically type cake!

Bulk Barn Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Alright, here we go. My first recipe post! Keep in mind that I am in no way some kind of creator of recipes, I just post recipes I've found.

I love Bulk Barn. Seriously. I think it's one of the best parts about being Canadian. I have not found a comparable store in the States. Anthony insists I take him to Bulk Barn whenever he comes to Sarnia and I'm always happy to oblige. On Monday I took a trip to Bulk Barn to pick up ingredients for the cake I'm decorating in class on Thursday. Besides bulk food, Bulk Barn also sells a large assortment of Wilton items and British foods. I always leave Bulk Barn with a few extra items that weren't on my list.

On Monday I discovered their pumpkin spice loaf/muffin mix. I've been saying that I want to make as many pumpkin-flavoured items as possible this autumn and a simple muffin mix seemed like a good way to start. So without further ado...

Bulk Barn Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Ingredients:

2 3/4 cups Bulk Barn Pumpkin Spice Loaf Mix

1 cup water

1/3 cup canola oil

2 eggs

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease loaf or muffin pan.

2. Pour mix into a large mixing bowl. Add water, oil, and eggs.

3. Mix for 2 minutes either by hand or with a mixer. If by hand, be sure to get all the lumps out.

4. Pour batter into pan. Bake in centre of oven for 40-45 minutes or for muffins, 20 minutes.

5. Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick in the centre; it will come out clean when done.

6. Wait 10 minutes before removing from pan.

7. Enjoy with a glass of milk or apple cider.

Yield: 1 loaf or 12-15 muffins (depending how high you fill the muffin cups)

They look a little wonky because there was a little too much batter for 12 muffins but I was too lazy to do another batch.

New Direction

As I mentioned in my last post, I have a new plan for my blog and my main motivation is the hobby classes I'm taking this fall.

Starting next week, I'm enrolled in the following classes:

1. Learn to Knit. This is a one-day class offered by Michael's. I've semi-learned to knit in the past but it never stuck. I'm looking forward to it. I'm not sure how much time I'll end up devoting to knitting since I have so many other things going on, but I'd at least like to try and make a scarf.

2. Wilton Method of Cake Decorating, class 1. This is a 4-week (4 classes) class, also offered by Michael's. I'm most looking forward to this as I love making cakes. I've been looking at pictures and videos of the cakes students complete in this class and I've been blown away. No way I ever thought I'd ever be able to make those fancy icing roses. I'm so very excited for this class. Prepare for lots of entries about it!

3. Beginner Quilting. This is a 5-week (5 classes) class offered by a local store called The Quilt Shoppe. I've been wanting to learn to quilt for a few years now and my eagerness (read: jealousy) was kicked into high gear when I saw a quilt my coworker's wife had sewn.

4. Beginner Sewing. This is an 8-week (8 classes) class being put on by Fabricland. This will overlap with the quilting a little bit (mostly the classes learning about the sewing machine) so I'm sure that will be helpful.

Since I'm taking all these classes, I knew I'd want to write about them and take photos of what I'm working on. I'd also like to remember what I've learned and since I'm doing so much this fall, writing will hopefully help me absorb what I'm learning.

Throw curling (and maybe hockey but I'm not hopeful) into all of this and you have my fall/winter so far! Assuming all goes well, I want to sign up for succeeding classes for Wilton and sewing. Just call me Martha Stewart, apparently!

My big goal for all of this is to become a little more domesticated. I'd like to be able to have the skills to make nice things on my own. I want to be the go-to person for kick-ass cakes; I want to be able to mend my own clothes if need be; and I want to be able to create beautiful quilts that I can give as gifts. 

A friend of mine joked that my fall sounds makes me sound like a typical Canadian grandma. That's okay by me!