On Baking Bread and Not Being a Perfectionist

During the throws of the pandemic, many people all over the internet were turning to baking bread. Sourdough was a popular choice, and we baked our fair share of sourdough loaves, as well as muffins, scones, pancakes, etc.

BUT, Full disclosure, I am NOT a professional baker. I am not even a good baker. I have a hard time with exact measurements and following every step of a recipe. I much prefer to feel it out. I do use a recipe that acts as my general guideline, but I usually add a bit of this and a pinch of that and see what happens. As a result, sometimes what I bake turns out awesome, and other times my baked goods are lacking that....what would you call it....edible quality. HAHA. Not really. Everything always comes out edible, but it doesn't always taste as good as it could or rise as much as it should.

I have always loved to cook. Cooking is different from baking in the sense that things don't need to be so "exact" in order to turn out delicious. There is lots of space in cooking for following your intuition when combining spices, ingredients, and flavors. I am really BIG on following my intuition and it wasn't until recent years, that I really allowed myself the freedom to be creative with baking, and that's when I fell in love with baking.

I used to be a perfectionist. But not in the sense that I needed to do everything perfectly. I just needed to appear perfect to those looking in from the outside. You would think that baking would be a perfectionist's cup of tea. All you have to do is follow the directions exactly, and then you end up with something perfectly edible, delicious, and beautiful. But, I really hated baking during this time in life. I didn't actually want to BE perfect, nor do I like being told how to do something (very enneagram 8 of me), so I resisted baking. It wasn't until I embraced myself fully, and said, "Screw It...I'm gonna bake how I want and who cares how it turns out," that I found a love for warm, fresh home baked goodies.

So really, what's the point of posting a blog about baking and not being a perfectionist? For me, it's about transparency. It's about being FULLY myself and sharing with you in the hopes that my authenticity gives you permission to be authentic. Being a backyard homesteader isn't about "appearing" perfect (no matter how things look on Instagram). It's not about sharing with you homemade goods, recipes, our tending animals, and trying to present a beautiful, curated glimpses of a "perfect" life. It about sharing what I have learned and am learning through this journey called life.

Of course I do want to share with you a behind the scenes look into what homesteading means for us, and what it looks like to move a homestead from one country to another, and for you to be able to follow along with our new adventure in Ireland, but much more importantly, is that I want to share myself. I want to share My Heart, My Soul, the lessons I've learned, and the ways in which I show up fully in this world. I think we could all use more transparency, more honesty, and more connection in this world. So, I'm always going to keep it real and share homesteading with a side of radical transparency into who I really am.

Be Well Friends, and Be NICE to each other.

Have a beautiful day!

Lindsay