When I get an idea for a recipe or a way to tweak a baking recipe that calls for an experiment! It’s actually how a number of my recipes came to be as you can find in Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies. About half the time I try something new and it works out ‘right’ on the first try — which I consider lucky. The other half of the time I can usually get what I’m aiming for after about 3-5 tries with recipe tweaks in between.
Lately I’ve had an idea for a new cookie that is so vivid in my mind I can see it — I can nearly taste it! It’s a Celtic-themed cookie which I’ve talked a little about recently. During the past few weeks I’ve been looking for the right time to experiment with it. My delay has mostly been due to not having hot water has been out in my place, and given what I’ve thought to do …. yeah, I need to not be heating water to clean up afterwards.
Tonight I gave it a go! Well, not all of the experiment …. what I tried was the frosting. In this case, melted chocolate chips infused with coffee — and it FAILED! I appreciate failures like this near as much as times of accomplishment. What I tried didn’t work and now I know what not to do. For this I am NOT using a microwave!
I have a new idea to try and I should be giving it a go …. this Saturday? What will it be …. probably buttercream frosting … simple, easy, duh!
As you know I am working on two new books right now. One of these is a bagpipe sheet music book — which has taken priority since I am aiming to release around June/July 2019. Following that I have a new cookie recipe book, and with some luck it might get published this fall. Between the two, the recipe book includes a number of cookies I have dreamed up … some of these recipes do not yet exist. experiment
TIME FOR AN EXPERIMENT!
One of these recipes — and I’m not giving out much details until it’s perfected — is at least to say caffeinated shortbread with a cool name. I’m excited about this idea!
During a recent phone call with a close friend I shared the details and this fellow replied “Those sound so good I’d take two batches NOW!” My schedule is a bit of a juggling act right now however I want to bake the first experimental batch this week if I can.
There’s a handy thing about my shortbread recipe (which you can find in my book/e-book now available on Amazon.com) … The recipe calls for a pound of butter, 4 cups of flour, and 1 cup of sugar, which means I am able to make this as small as a quarter batch. That’s great for this experiment because I can try one idea, tweak it, and then try again without blowing through whole batches at a time.
Something that came to my attention earlier today… FREE
Before the Fall 2018 launch of my book I redundantly and obnoxiously told everyone about a link on my website — a link where you could get FOUR FREE RECIPES that were going to be and are in my book. I found out today that not everyone caught that.
Yes — if you go to WhidbeyIslandBaking.com and look under “Products” for “Free Stuff” you can download these FOUR FREE RECIPES — better yet, OR JUST CLICK THIS LINK.
Please try these recipes. Please enjoy these recipes. Please share these recipes. If you have questions about these recipes please ask me. If you don’t have questions then I did my job right in writing these recipes. If you like these, then please buy my book on Amazon. If the book is bigger than your budget, it’s also available as a save-a-tree e-book for about a quarter of the price.
ENJOY!
~ Don
PS — Thank you Rachel for bring this to my attention 🙂
After completing and publishing “Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies” in both paper book and e-book forms last Fall, I didn’t take a break — I rolled right in to my next 2 book projects! One is a cookie recipe book which I’m quite excited about, the other is a bagpipe sheet music book for a veterans organization I’m honored to be a part of. While I am working on both, the sheet music book has taken the lead as I am aiming to have it published come spring — somewhat more specifically, June.
No-no — it’s a good thing — really ……. I think. 😉
Now that things are getting stabilized with pivoting WIBC from being a production baking company to writing & publishing books, yours truly is on the hunt for a day job. Lately I’ve reworked my resume so it is in fit fighting form and I have gotten a few interviews line up with interesting looking local employers. At the same time, I’m working on my infamous truck to further get it into fit commuting form. Since buying it I’ve done a lot of needed repairs; while it is currently in good shape, there are these last few projects to address so it is less likely to create interruptions as I re-join the traditional workfarce …. er, I mean, workforce.
And now, further on the audio front …
Three things I’m excited to tell you about!
A year ago I started looking into becoming an audio book narrator. I developed a solid initial understanding of the industry and ways to get into it. This interest is still in me, however I have had higher priorities. I plan to narrate my own books and others — first though I need to get things stabilized with my day job.
I’ve said a few times recently that I have 4 recordings ‘in the can’ for my experiential recording project Archive Of Resonance. I’m getting help with the audio now and intend to (er, finally) complete each album as time allows — if I can get all of these put together and published through Amazon this year, great, if not then no big deal … they’ll get done when they’re supposed to.
LASTLY And Not Leastly … In my superhero persona as BagpiperDon, I have taken on a personal challenge! An online bagpipe school called Dojo University has put forth an activity that bagpipers may take part in For FREE. I’ve known about Dojo U for years, heard nothing but good things about them, and would LOVE to make use of their services. They produce various Free materials which I have been gratefully using in the mean time — chiefly e-articles and some videos. Lately I’ve been taking part in the “Dojo U 100 Day Bagpipe Challenge“. The primary part of the challenge is for pipers, in their individual practice, to assemble their pipes and practice one tune (any tune) a day for 100 consecutive days …. and if you miss a day, you have to start over. I see the object of this as not so much to work on one’s playing ability as it is to develop discipline. Today will be Day 017 for me — only 083 days to go!
Yes, I can say that — which probably means the coffee has kicked in ….
Sundry things to chatter about today…
As you’ve heard my first recipe book is out in both paper & e-book formAND that I am not one to take a break — yes, I’m already working on 2 future books! As with any time two or more projects are running concurrently, sometimes one project takes a lead over the other. Of these two books, one is a recipe book and the other is a Highland bagpipe sheet music book. Since publishing “Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies” on Amazon I have mostly worked on the future recipe book — and I’m Thrilled about its developments! During the past week I’ve realized that the sheet music book is rather close to being done along with having a higher priority. There is some ‘heavy lifting’ to do on this project and everything is ready for it to happen — SO — I’m pressing forth on this as time allows. This is also good because…
Tomorrow I’m meeting with Tom Trimbath — my friend and self-publishing coach — first time in 2019! Getting to work with Tom is great — he’s a wonderful soul full of mirth and insight. I’m looking to talk with him about this sheet music book (since it’s a rather different project) along with our interests in presenting our books and how-to-self-publish topic at various locations in 2019. I hope he’s ready for tomorrow as I’ve already drawn up a list of things to ask and talk with him about!
Last and Certainly Not Least…
Over the past few days I’ve gotten to chat online with my friend, Donna. This is the very-same Donna in Scotland who you will read about in the Acknowledgments section of Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies. As it turns out she’s had my book for a number of days and didn’t know that she was on my Thank You list — she had spent all this time going through my recipes and stories. When it comes to websites and web-marketing, Donna is as smart as a whip*! She took a quick look yesterday here at WhidbeyIslandBaking.com and noticed a few improvements that could be made. Donna went further to say that she could do a review of my site along with giving me a slew of web-marketing tips. While I have learned a good bit of marketing from being a professional musician, I believe that one can always learn more — and quite frankly, I know rather little when it comes to online-marketing. SO… I’m excited to be working with Donna over the coming days and weeks to both improve this site and my web-marketing skills — and, as in my book, once again I ought to say Thanks Donna!
(*She’s also one heck of a photographer!)
When I get an idea for a recipe or a way to tweak a baking recipe that calls for an experiment! It’s actually how a number of my recipes came to be as you can find in Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies. About half the time I try something new and it works out ‘right’ on the first try — which I consider lucky. The other half of the time I can usually get what I’m aiming for after about 3-5 tries with recipe tweaks in between.
Tonight I gave it a go! Well, not all of the experiment …. what I tried was the frosting. In this case, melted chocolate chips infused with coffee — and it FAILED! I appreciate failures like this near as much as times of accomplishment. What I tried didn’t work and now I know what not to do. For this I am NOT using a microwave!
As you know 
A year ago I started looking into becoming an audio book narrator. I developed a solid initial understanding of the industry and ways to get into it. This interest is still in me, however I have had higher priorities. I plan to narrate my own books and others — first though I need to get things stabilized with my day job.
Sundry things to chatter about today…
