Shifting the centre of my universe, as the ‘Me’ matters

Hello, thanks for stopping by my blog.

I don’t know how you see cooking but for me, as a single household,  I’ve spent a lot of years seeing ‘real’  cooking as the cooking I did when I entertained family and friends.

I saw this as my chance to try all the wonderful, real recipes I’d read in the endless pile of cookbooks that sit beside my bed. It was the time I saw myself as a ‘real’ cook, making proper meals and glowing with satisfaction as my friends and family enjoyed the fruits of my all effort. And I did make a big effort, with beautiful food, great ingredients, the best china – all matching – and a table decorated with creative flair.

However, if you dropped by on a weeknight, my cooking was not so grand, after all, it was only me so why bother too much?

When I started to think about this, the truth was that I spent more time doing ‘why bother’ cooking than I did ‘real’ cooking. There were many, many more days of the week I cooked just4Me than cooking for other people yet I showed myself so little respect.

When I read that 24% of Australian households were single person, I realised I was not alone. And so began my journey to rethink the centre of my cooking world.

To explore the world of cooking for small households, to discover ways to experience the joy and satisfaction that I got cooking for others, cooking just4Me.

I’ve thought about this a lot.

I’ve talked about this a lot.

And I’ve found that many other single households face similar challenges. Me being me I started to work out ways to meet these challenges.

I talked some more.

I thought more.

I shared more ideas.

And everyone said….’write your recipes down and please share them’… ‘but I’m dyslexic’ I cried. ‘I’m not good at writing”…. ‘we don’t care, share your recipes and ideas

…so I finally did and they became the popular ‘Cooking for you and me’ cookbook and chip for Thermomix.

Weeknight dinners sorted I started to think about cakes and baking.

I wasn’t a baker but I did like a little bit of cake with my cuppa. Something tasty, not too sweet, filling and enjoyable.

When I decided to look for the perfect cake recipe to have with a cuppa I was struck by how sweet the recipes were and how big the cakes were.

The world of cakes and baking had become supersized!

Recipes in my high school Home Economics book called for 7 inches (18cm) cake tins while most recipes today call for 22-24 cm tins. When did cake recipes become supersized?

I went hunting for cakes that were sized for my needs. My research leads me to conclude that the perfect size is 15 cm (6 inches).

Enough for a few slices or to share if friends drop by. Big enough to look like a  “real” cake when I took it to work or book club but not so big that I’d end up wasting half of it or worse still, grossly overeating cake.

With no recipes for this perfect size cake, I set about to learn to bake and convert recipes to suit my needs. I’ve done a lot of baking and testing. I’ve made lots of mistakes (the blackbirds in my garden enjoyed them even if I didn’t) and created some amazing taste treats. And I’m a little closer to finding the answer to the question of the perfect cake.

Three years on I’ve created dozens of recipes for just4Me sized cakes and I thought it time to share with others who cook just for themselves.

That thought was the beginning of the just4Me Bake Club. A place for just4Me bakers to talk cake and baking and other delicious matters.

If you’ve read this far, I’m taking it you are interested in my recipes. Like to try one for free?

If you’d like to know more about how the Bake Club works click here.

I hope the free recipe brings you as much enjoyment as it has me.

Happy baking.

Caroline