Looking forward.

This post is going to be a little short, because I'm in the midst of packing and getting ready to move. I'm not even moving very far from where I am now, but moving in and of itself takes both physical and mental energy. Sometimes it can be really exciting--like there is something new and wonderful ahead, which was definitely how moving away to college was like. There was a whole new world to discover, a new beginning, new things to learn and new people to meet. But sometimes I get really comfortable where I'm at, and making any change is a huge mental hurdle even if it's a good change. Whatever the circumstances, I feel like I'm leaving behind a part of me when I move--maybe because of the memories made at that place; and when I look back at my time living at some place, I can see how that place, and the people who have come in and out of that place, have shaped me in some way. So this Sunday, I'll be moving almost just around the corner because it is time for a change, still looking back, but also looking forward to the unknown that comes with new surroundings. (I'm hopeful my new place will have better lighting for pictures, too.)

The other reason this post is a little short is because on Monday, I baked a cake for a friend's birthday and it was very very disappointing. Disappointing in a way that makes you sigh really deeply and wish you could start all over--with something else. I was ambitious and wanted to try a sachertorte because my friend loves chocolate. I should have stuck with cupcakes. My friends in general think I'm a perfectionist--and I probably am, though that is one character trait I am working on changing--but in this case, I really believe I am speaking the truth when I say that this cake I made for my friend was ugly. Not only was it ugly, it didn't rise enough and I overbaked it, so I knew it must have been dry, possibly bitter, because I could see that some of the edges were black (you can't see it in the picture because I deliberately only took pictures of the side that looked okay). She was very kind and even said it was delectable, but I think I know when something is bad. I won't even bother posting pictures of the final product, but I'll post pictures of the chocolate (mmm) and the cake when it was still in the pan, which looks kind of like the surface of a planet (not Earth, but some other one with lots of craters and bumps).

I'm taking a break next week because of the move, but hopefully, I'll have something beautiful and delicious to share when I return. And to my dear friend, I hope you had a wonderful birthday yesterday, and I will bake better cakes for you in the future.

The recipe I used for the sachertorte can be found at epicurious.com.

For what a sachertorte should look like (and to order one direct from Vienna!), you can go here.