Bake Around the World: Write in the Kitchen, A Year of Writing and Baking, Final Review

This year, I endeavored on a monthly challenge to bake around the world; write in the kitchen. The idea was inspired by Erin, my friend and author of This Footprint blog (IG @thisfootprint_blog) who participated in a cooking challenge for every country. Each month, I randomly selected a country and made a vegan version of a traditional dessert from that nation. And, each month, I put intentional time into writing at least one non-Smile Project related piece. The goal was to expand my confectionary acumen and bake around the world, and to sit closer to home, writing for myself.

Twelve times this year, I’ve started a blog with a version of that first paragraph. Only this time, I moved it all into past tense. Another year’s monthly challenge complete. And what have I learned?

I really like the cadence of things. As someone who has written and posted a daily “Happiness is” since I was a teenager, I am someone who easily falls into a rhythm and then sticks to it. I’ve been doing a two minute plank every morning since August 10, 2021. I publish a blog for The Smile Project twice weekly. I write an annual letter to myself on December 31st and seal it away for 365 days. Cadence. 

A few years ago, I locked onto the idea of a monthly challenge but in the last two years, I’ve more publicly shared and formalized the process. In 2024, I took a one-off, in-person class once a month about something I knew nothing about. I learned very introductory woodworking and candle making and looming. At the end of the year, I traipsed around my apartment, collecting all the things I had made over the course of 12 months. It was awesome. 

At the start of 2025, I decided I wanted to stick a little closer to home—hence the emphasis on baking and writing. But what I hadn’t realized is that I had signed myself up for basically 2 monthly challenges. I never baked and wrote on the same day. And, in fact, I almost never wrote at home. My favorite coffee shop saw a lot of me as I regularly was the first morning guest, curled up in a quiet corner with a tea and a laptop. 

The double challenge made this a little, well, challenging. So let’s break it down. The baking. I “traveled” to 3 European countries; 2 countries in Africa, Asia, North American/the Caribbean; and South America; and 1 country in Australia/Oceania. I made beignets from Gabon and spice cake from Grenada. Rice pudding from Colombia and puff puffs from Nigeria. I made shendetlie from Albania and mooncakes from China. Khaliat nahal from Yemen and aho from Palau. Irish soda bread and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines banana fritters. Surinamese bojo cake and Bosnia and Herzegovinian pita sa jabukama. 

I wrote about book proposals and sunscreen, a dog named Gregory and how we relate to one another. I explored choosing new endings and steadiness and community. I work on setting scenes and I played with new-to-me genres in The Nest. I wrote about welcome tea in Bhutan and a fictionalized account of a trip to Cold Spring. I wrote about the price of routine.

Mostly, though, I explored. With every spin of the random country generator, I found new (and structured) opportunities to fall down rabbit holes. To read about places so far from my own home. To explore food customs that vary from how I eat. To play with flavors and ingredients that I’ve never baked with before. 

Like most things, I found it was more fun when I involved other people. I had friends and family randomly select 11 of my 12 countries (I spun the wheel in December). I invited friends over to eat shendetlie, packaged mooncakes to bring to a neighbor, left bojo cake with family. 

Perhaps the most telling and long lasting impact of this challenge is the way it forced me to write—not for Smile Project nor for work, but for myself—with a ferocity I haven’t felt in years. It had me write even though it was bad. It had me write even though I didn’t come back to edit. It had me write knowing that I might never do anything with the characters and settings and stories I’d painted across the screen. It had me write and remember that that process was the reward in and of itself. 

I already know what I’m doing for 2026’s monthly challenge—more to come there—but before I turn the page on 2025, I am taking a moment to appreciate the sweet treats and sloppy words that carried me through every varied and beautiful month of this year. 

MONTHLY CHALLENGE: BAKE AROUND THE WORLD WRITE IN THE KITCHEN REVIEW

January: to beignets and book proposals (Gabon)

February: to spice cake and sunscreen (Grenada)

March: to rice pudding and Gregory (Colombia)

April: to puff puffs and how we relate (Nigeria)

May: to shendetlie and choosing new endings (Albania)

June: to mooncakes and steadiness (China)

July: to khaliat nahal and community (Yemen)

August: to aho and scene setting (Palau)

September: to soda bread and the Nest (Ireland)

October: to banana fritters and Welcome Tea (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines)

November: to bojo cake and Cold Spring (Suriname)

December: to pita sa jabukama and The Price of Routine (Bosnia & Herzegovina)