Backstory: I am a huge fan of baking shows, which is ironic because I don’t like eating most baked goods. What I love is the mix of art, creativity, science, beauty, and nerves of steel. I hold my breath as I watch home cooks–like me!–test their skills and push beyond their boundaries and create things that inspire my imagination.

One of the skills I am not naturally gifted with is piping. I would love to learn how to make those fancy borders and swirly tops and pretty edible flowers and…. This is my chance to try it all.

What Happened: I went to the market three times this week, each time with the ingredients to make a cake and icings on my list. And three times I couldn’t pull the trigger. What the heck?! I just…I just didn’t want to.

At one point I tried to talk myself into this because I was pretty sure the photos would show results similar to my latte art nudge. (My attempts to create a frothy “heart” were hilarious–see the nudge here.) Yes, that would have made for a funny post, but it wouldn’t have been true to the intention of 52Nudges.

Why didn’t I want to make and decorate a cake?…. How about…because I don’t like cake.

For real. Simple truth.

On my last trip to the market I picked up some whipping cream thinking maybe I’d just do some practice piping on a board and call it a day. But I didn’t even want to do that. So I put aside this nudge for another day and went into the kitchen to make something I truly enjoy making: All-American Apple Pie:

I should note that I don’t like eating pie any more than I like eating cake. But Thor loves this, and I love making it for him.

The Ah-Hahs: When I created my list almost a year ago, the nudges all appealed to me for one reason or another. I can also give you reasons for why I feel I should do some of them. But as I progress through this nudging process, what I’m really learning is what feels right for me right now. How do I want to spend my time and energy and creative gifts? What makes me happy? What fills my soul? I’m still going to nudge myself to try new things, especially things that push me out of my comfort zone, but as I do them, I’m paying closer attention to what I feel is “100% Kath”.

I refuse to have regrets, but I imagine my life would be quite different if I’d figured this out in my 20s. But–hey–imagine how authentically amazing my life is going to be moving forward. 🙂