Back at Baking in the Basement Blogging!

 Hello folks!

Anyone still following this blog may need to take a moment to jog their memory, then y'all might wonder just where the heck I've been. Well, to be as honest and open as I can on the subject, I got very sick. I suffer from both mental illness and chronic physical conditions that had gone undiagnosed and untreated for too long, and I finally couldn't sustain my regular activities any more. I went through years of seeing what seemed like dozens of doctors before we figured it all out, and found the right regimens of therapy and medication to help me function more like a healthy person.

Hi, I'm still kicking!

In the meantime, I worked retail for a fireworks company, going from cashier to store manager, before getting to a point where I felt I could advance no further, and so looked for work elsewhere. I got a job in a bakery, which was amazing, but I couldn't quite keep up with the physical demands, and they had to let me go after a few months. But I am grateful for that job, because it reminded me how much I love baking and creating delicious and beautiful foods and sharing them with the people around me. 

This rediscovery of my baking passion led me to go back to school, and I've now completed a 2-year course in Baking and Pastry Arts Management, which sounds kind of fancy, but learning as much as I did at college only made me realize how much more there is to explore and learn in the culinary world, and I'm so excited to get into it!

I'm still not 100% able-bodied, my conditions aren't cured, but they are much better controlled, and I feel like I'm regaining some control in my life. So it's time to get back to it! Time to bake! Time to blog! Time to try new things - like video-making and meal kits and cookbook reviews!

Thank you to everyone who took the time to read this, and especially to my OG followers who are tuning back in.

If you'd like to keep up with my current projects, please check out my Twitter and/or Instagram, where I'll be updating more frequently.

And keep an eye on this page - I've got some awesome new recipes and ideas I'm just itching to share :)

A Quick Update, And Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies Preview

Sorry for the immense silence around here, folks!

I've gotten caught up in all that darned "real life" junk, like working and dealing with family issues, and all that lovely junk. On top of that I got involved in this awful thing called Tumblr which just saps hours of my time in the blink of an eye and I love it.

But I digress. Baking!

It's that time of the year where I have a billion things to bake, so I'm gonna do my best to tell you guys about it! Right now I'm in the middle of a big batch of 60 cupcakes for a baby shower, so keep an eye out for those. At the moment the farthest I've gotten is...

... cake mix! I'm so busy I know I can't make all those cupcakes from scratch in one night, so I've spread out the work. The frostings are all fully made and hanging out in the fridge, and here I have all the dry ingredients for my cupcakes pre-mixed and ready to go with the remaining ingredients and instructions sticky-noted right on them. In a prettier container, these would make a great gift!

Getting ready for this crazy baking season also meant cleaning and organizing all my cookie cutters. I never realized just how many I had until I put them all in the sink to wash, and the sink was completely full. No, really, completely full! Look at this:

It's not just that plastic ones are floating here, there are metal cutters at the top of the sink. There's... there's at least 300 cutters here. I might have a problem.

Just to prove I really have been baking and not just slacking off, here's a preview of a post I just haven't gotten around to writing yet:

Mmm, peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips and - and... what is that peaking out of the chewy peanutbuttery cookie bite? How mysterious!

I guess y'all will find out next time!