Moving forward – making changes along the way!

Posted On March 13, 2022

When I started this website, my goal was to become a Personal Chef and start my own business, doing the thing I love – cooking!

Then I had two injuries…. Nothing major really, but I fractured my tibial plateau (top of the tibia bone, right at the knee) on October 4. I really thought I had just pulled or torn something and wasn’t even going to go to the hospital. However, I knew I wasn’t able to walk very well (barely at all, really), and would need a note for work. My jaw hit the floor after they had x-rayed and the doctor told me I had a fracture, and that I could not weight-bear until I had seen an orthopaedic surgeon. They fit me with a Zimmer splint and I learned how to maneuver a wheelchair like a boss. But, as fun as that sounds, it was really, really hard to be incapacitated like that. I spent six weeks (well, actually about 4 1/2 but don’t tell the doctor) in this Zimmer splint and it annoyed me immensely.

I was just starting to get some strength and stability back and then I fell again and hurt my shoulder. Everyone was so concerned about my knee, because clearly it would have been a huge setback to injure it again so soon. But I said my knee was fine but I couldn’t move my arm. Sigh…

I went to my next ortho appt. and came in without a Zimmer, but had my arm in a sling. He just shook his head. He told me my rotator cuff was ‘angry’. I said, “Yeah, that makes two of us!”

Anyway, things can change in a split second. Falls are a big deal as you age, and I got my first taste of what life could look like. All that to say that I have had to readjust my goals.

While my shoulder is improving, my range of motion is not great and I deal with a fair bit of pain, especially at night. Also, though my leg is improving, standing all day really isn’t an option. As a Personal Chef, you cook meals to last one or two weeks all in one day, and you do it in your client’s home. You also do all the grocery shopping for those pre-decided meals. So I just don’t think I could manage that right now, nor could I carry in all the groceries and equipment I would need to do a great job.

So, I have had to readjust! And through this, I have found a new love….baking bread!

Not one to just stick to the easy stuff, I also decided I needed to master the Cadillac of homemade bread, sourdough. And no, I would not ‘cheat’ and start my sourdough with commercial yeast, it had to be totally like a pioneer woman would do, creating a starter from scratch using the airborne yeasts and bacteria from the air. Ever heard the saying, “You are your own worst enemy?” Yeah, that’s me. LOL

Well, it is definitely a process, and I will describe it briefly in a video below. It was all going well until I put my starter, which was finally ready to start using to bake actual bread, in the oven to keep it from drafts and somehow the oven got turned on and it baked!!

So, back to square one.

Long story, not as long as it could be… I am now baking sourdough bread.

I am experimenting with all kinds of bread recipes….but the sourdough is the one I am most proud of.

As with any new endeavour, you can research the stuffing out of it and by the time you’re done, you are both confused and overwhelmed. Not hard to talk yourself out of things, but I am learning….you just start!! If it’s a flop, then you will learn something from it and do better the next time. As I’ve always said, with cooking (and baking), while there is science involved, it is more art than science, and art takes practice!

So, where to go from here? Well, I took another step past my fear and intimidation and began to bake a few loaves to sell. The hardest part – not cutting a slice from each loaf to test and make sure it was okay before sending them out the door to someone else!!!!

I sold 15 LOAVES my FIRST week!!!

My dream is to rent or build a commercial kitchen and up my production.

But, in the meantime, I will happily keep experimenting and refining!!

Meet my new best friend!!!

Watch for them on sale!!! I got mine AT HALF PRICE!!!

Honestly, if you’re going to do much with it, I would recommend NOT getting a tilt-head model!! Get the bowl-lift one!!!

Here is my video below…. I am not photogenic, neither am I a videographer (maybe that will be the next skill I pursue).