why i bake.

It is a Throwback Thursday kind of post.

Last month I hit the four year mark from the day I wrote my first blog post for this site. 

photo from my first post at: http://cookingannabaking.tumblr.com/post/596765749/the-icing-on-the-cake-this-is-me-anna-newell 

Fitting that my first picture on my blog was in a place I love: Chelsea Market in New York City.

An indoor market filled with shops.

Plus, on the third floor is the Food Network headquarters. A channel I grew up watching. And still love watching Giada and Ina Garten on weekend mornings.

For some reason, I always take a picture in this little cookie shop every time I am in Chelsea market.  I am not even sure why…

It’s probably because they give out broken cookie samples at the counter.

Ok, so basically you all must check out Chelsea Market next time you  are in NYC! 

WHY I BAKE - WHY I BLOG

The other day I told someone that I bake and it felt as though the word did not quite describe itself.  Just one word, but inside each baker is a story behind why they bake. 

For me, it means so many things and it is the reason I started this blog over four years ago.

I have grown up in the kitchen. It is part of who I am.

And still today, after stressful weeks, if I don’t get to the kitchen, all is lost.  It’s when you have a zillion things you have to get done… but for some reason, before anything else gets done, you MUST make homemade thin mints right that minute, or else.

From high school - to college - to law school -  to now working at a law firm. I  constantly read books about bakers, cooks, and food writers who travel the world. I am constantly walking into bakeries just to look around. Then, baking late at night, fulfilling a part of who I am.  A part of me that I never quite know how to fully pursue. A part that is still in the works.

You may all have this hidden part in you, whatever the hobby. One that day after day, you look back and realize it is actually a major part of your life.  It becomes was makes you tick.  What makes you unique.

Becoming a baker happened in my own kitchen growing up; where my mom and I would master the lattice pie top. Where I would help assemble desserts at my dad’s annual office Christmas party hosted at  our house. Or where we take our fresh picked berries and preserve dozens of jam jars in one afternoon. 

I bake because I want to show the world that sweets must be enjoyed often. They should not be associated with guilt. Now, I fully admit that I am a health freak and at times I can’t even control my own eating habits. Like many, I’ve struggled to find a balance.  But I think if you sweat each day, and eat clean most of the time, then enjoy the treat. It is special.

When buy my little niece an apron and teach her how to make granola… that is when it hits me that baking means so much more than just food.  

We all bake to show love. Taking the time, using you hands, and creating something you made.

Baking is a gift.