A vain baker will claim to make the best of everything. However, a wise one will learn a lesson in humility. The wise seek inspiration and also use recipes from others when they recognize talent. I started out with much vanity and quickly realized that baking will humble you. You only have to see some of my past posts to see I’ve made some doozy recipes. I think failing at baking allows you to enjoy humble pie! Bah-dah-dum. Anyone?

I was both discouraged and relieved to find that my back injury had forced a sudden end to my obsession with making macarons. Therefore, I needed to look for some new ideas of what to make. Something that I could do with minimum effort on my part.

Baking with a disability can either be upsetting or exciting. I decided this would begin a new chapter in my blog book. (I know, another lame joke.)

Enter John Kirkwood! If you aren’t a subscriber already, do yourself a favor and look him up on Youtube. Many think he sounds like Pooh on Winnie the Pooh. I kind of think they are right in a good way. His voice is very soothing.

I found a few recipes I wanted to try out and texted my friend Nancy to decide which one to try next. We decided on English Tea Cakes since everything else seemed to be just a variation on what I had already made. They were a lot of fun to make without a lot of effort. Always a plus when you are struggling just to wash dishes.

I got a great compliment from my friends making a recipe I didn’t own or create. They tasted like the ones back home. What more could a baker want? I didn’t need to have invented a recipe to feel like a rockstar. Instead, I just needed a lesson in humility and a recipe from a retired chef on the other side of the pond. So if you want to make English Tea Cakes, you now know my secret recipe.