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 🙂
I’m fortunate to be friends with other folks who are budding authors — and since publishing I have also come into contact with some established authors (like Craig Gordon, whom I recently blogged about). Something that’s really cool is that everyone is asking everyone questions and loads of people are happy to help with what they know! (See my “PPS” below — I’ve even gotten into it!)
Recently I asked Nick Marsden a few questions and he suggested podcasts by Joanna Penn. This was a wonderful suggestion and I’m grateful to Nick for making it! Since Nick’s suggestion I have only heard 2 of Joanna Penn’s podcasts. The content fit my needs well, and looking at the list of her other podcasts I want to listen to all 400+ shows ASAP! Interesting interviews and all sorts of topics that speak to my writing interests.
By The Way … Here are Nick and Joanna’s important links
…and Be Sure To See Nick’s guide on how to write a 3-Dimensional Story — I’m using with it myself!
If you’re a new author, an author who is already on their way, or someone who is questioning if they should write ‘that first book’, I encourage you to check out Joanna Penn’s podcasts — and take off on your journey!
PS — If you have suggestions of other podcasts for authors on the topics of writing, publishing, marketing, and more, please let me know 🙂 PPS — I’ve been contacted by new authors across the country and around the world for information on self-publishing — how cool is that?!? I’ve directed them to the presentation I did with Tom Trimbath — which is coming up again …)
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!
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.