Friday Flutter Report 2.13.26
It doesn’t have to be fancy
I love a good theme. What I struggle with is the ever-growing expectation that each event needs the fanciest, most complicated dessert you’ve ever seen. We see it all over social media. If it’s not the design, it’s the ingredients. If it’s not the ingredients, it’s the quantity. Even the names of these dishes are getting out of hand!
Don’t get me wrong, I relish an opportunity to create in the kitchen. To push the boundaries of what we know and create something exquisite. I also love to see how creative people are and gain inspiration from other artists.
HOWEVER, as baking gets more and more intense, it can be hard to see it as a source of enjoyment and not see it as a source of stress. The second home baking becomes stressful, we’ve lost the intention. Baking is supposed to RELIEVE stress, not the other way around.
Case in point: Last Sunday, I was deciding what to make for a Super Bowl party and my thoughts were sprinting around the corners of my brain, trying to think of what to bring that screamed SUPER BOWL!! I wanted something so cute and so fun that I started to lose steam all together and considered just buying some fruit from the store and calling it good.
Thankfully, I remembered to take a breath. I told myself it’s not that serious and I should just make something classic. No one asked for a themed dessert, that was all an expectation I put on myself. So, I put my expectations in the cupboard and I pulled out the chocolate. For what? Brownies. Not layered brownies or brownies with mix-ins (don’t you dare mention walnuts and brownies in the same sentence). Just classic brownies.
Guess what? Everyone loved them.
I loved them. I had fun making them. Have you ever melted chocolate and butter together? It’s immensely satisfying.
The lesson I’m taking away from this is that things don’t have to be complicated to be good. There is a time and place to experiment and challenge yourself creatively, and then there is a time to just create for the fun of it.
Also, when in doubt, go with chocolate.
