creamy pumpkin & sage pasta
struggling with inspiration: why is being a creative so overwhelming and hard?
as a certified yapper, i’ve found myself at a loss for words lately. i don’t really know what to write about. even writing this post, which i’ve been putting off for almost a week now, has proven more difficult than i ever thought it’d be, and i’m not sure why.
i think i’m just struggling to feel inspired.
i have so many ideas, plans, thoughts, and creative processes circulating in my head, i feel fatigued by all that i want to accomplish. normally, making a list helps. but my lists haven’t felt good enough, or, concrete enough lately for me to act on. so, i make a new list. and a new one, and a new one and then i have a bunch of lists covering the same topics that i can’t keep up with.
i don’t know how to “start small” which seems so simple in theory. how am i supposed to start small with all my big ideas? what if my baby steps prevent me from living up to how great the project could be because i didn’t give it my all? there it is again.
all or nothing.
i’m torn between wanting to revive my craft shop and start taking orders that aren’t just wholesale (which i’ve been getting a good amount of lately), wanting to begin a lovey-dovey romance novel involving a bakery meet cute, wanting to make a bunch of products for a consignment agreement i have with my cafe job with said craft shop, and wanting to prioritize my wellness and school. i just am not sure where to start.
i also really want to do more with my beginner baking series, but i feel a bit stuck on what topics to cover, recipes to include, and things like that. but i have so much i want to do i just feel overwhelmed. it makes me shut down.
why is being a creative person so hard?
i guess i am inspired, but i don’t know what to do with all my inspirations. but, i’m tired of feeling stuck. so, let’s create one more list. a GOOD list, a really good list to end all of my other lists.
stuff i want to (start) accomplish this month:
revive my craft shop
back in 2021, i opened a craft shop on etsy. i sold mostly fandom themed subtle jewelry, which was a big hit, and a lot of clay food miniatures made into earrings, necklaces, jewelry dishes, etc. it was a lot of fun, i got a lot of cool opportunities through it, like being a finalist in the etsy design awards in 2023 and one of my bagel earrings being featured in food network by molly yeh in 2021. i made around 4.5k sales before i migrated off of etsy after a HORRIBLE holiday season, to my own website. which, didn’t last very long, because i pumped the brakes on the whole thing to focus on my new job, aka, my semi-current job at the cafe i work at and recently took a break from. i actually have a consignment agreement with the owners, and i get to sell my little clay food things there, some of which look like the baked goods we sell there, so that’s pretty cool. i also do wholesale orders through faire, which has been bringing in a semi-sporadic yet decent stream of money the last few weeks, a couple hundred here and there. i guess it isn’t dead dead, just.. not where it used to be. i don’t really want it to be where it used to be either, i want it to be new, less stressful, and more… less. i would really love it if it could be my primary income again, and if i could do more stuff with concrete businesses like wholesale and consignment, instead of relying solely on individuals who want to buy gifts. it’s pretty cool to see your stuff on the shelves of a store.
write a romance novel
i’ve always wanted to write a book. since i was about fifteen, i’d create drafts for books, get stuck, then abandon them. i felt like i didn’t know what direction i wanted to go after some point, or what to put in it to make it special, complex and engaging. as i’ve gotten older, i realize that i don’t really want to write a super complex book right now, nor would i really find myself reading one. i do love books with good twists, turns, and stakes, don’t get me wrong, but what i really want to write is something wholesome, cutesy, semi-uplifting and comforting. i love romance, and all my previous drafts had a romantic element in common amongst them. this past sunday, i decided i wanted to write just that— a simple, wholesome, adorable, cheerful and cheesy romance novel that involves one of my favorite things: baking. how cute would that be? a writer and baker, writing about love and baking. what better way to merge my two passions into something even sweeter than pastries? i want to write my ideal book. a book that i could read while eating a sweet chocolate and almond croissant, with a cup of coffee, no matter the season, curled under a blanket with love swarming in my head in my heart. i don’t mind if people don’t care for it, but every pot has a lid, right? i can’t be the only one who loves not super complicated romance novels, without copious amounts of trauma and a life lesson. just.. romance. and baked goods. obviously.
do more with my beginner baking series
this one i kiiiiiinnndaaa need you guys’ help on. i feel so stuck in regards to what i can include in baking buddies: the beginner. i don’t want to put in the most basic things, and indirectly insult people’s intelligence, and i also am unsure of what things to include. i’ve been baking for… quite a while now, so stuff that i think is beginner friendly might not actually be? basically, what i’m asking is for you guys to proofread my work. i want to hear what things you guys might want more help with, as well as what recipes you’d like to see.
let me know if you have a favorite meal, dessert, etc or skill that you’d like to build on. i have some pretty basic topics i want to go over, but primarily, i want this to be about YOU guys and you feeling more confident in baking. some series i want to cover so far include:
cakes
pies
cookies & biscuits
but i also want to include some more skills, like bea mentioned in our subscriber chat, such as double-boiling. if you guys have skills you want to learn, let me know, and i’ll incorporate them into recipes! thank you bea for the suggestion! <3
prioritize my wellness
i really want to make an effort to be more active and feel better in my body. i love going on walks, but truthfully, anxiety and depression make things like getting out of bed and tackling my big list of goals, hopes and dreams so much harder. this month, i want to challenge myself to treat my body (and myself) kinder, and do things that will help and not harm me, even if it feels as if i’m
“too far gone”or not deserving of it. this is probably the one thing that i’ll struggle with most on this list.
i don’t have a good segue into this next part after all of that, so let’s get onto the recipe!
pumpkin season is upon us, so there’s a lot of pumpkin & squash-like recipes coming the next couple of months. but don’t worry! it won’t all be fall — i’ll still post regular non-fall recipes, so if that’s not your thing, or fall is your least favorite season, i’ve still got you covered. :-)
this pasta recipe is sooo creamy and has a thick sauce (which i love, but you could also thin it out some if that’s not your jam, just see the footnote in step 5!) and has a delicious sage browned butter base. seriously, what can’t browned butter do? it just gives such a nutty and depth to almost everything, and it pairs so well with pumpkin and the nutmeg here, too.
this recipe is also pretty simple, and very customizable! you could add in nuts, use a different cheese, whatever. do want you want, it’s your food! i’m a firm believer that recipes are only to be slightly followed, unless otherwise stated, especially savory recipes and things that don’t require a specific technical skill in order to achieve results. but, i hope you guys enjoy this recipe, and happy fall!
<3
creamy pumpkin & sage pasta
16 oz pennoni pasta (or any pasta)
250 g canned pumpkin
1/2 medium vidalia onion, diced1
2 garlic cloves, minced
5 tbsp salted butter, browned to stage d
75 g freshly grated parmesan
65 g heavy cream
10-12 medium sage leaves, finely chopped
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 cup reserved pasta water2
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil for drizzling
in heavily salted boiling water, cook pasta to package instructions. before straining, reserve about 1 cup of pasta water, then strain — do not rinse the pasta!
in a medium saucepan on medium heat, brown butter until you reach stage b, then, add in minced sage leaves and continue browning until pasta reaches stage d, stirring occasionally to prevent the sage leaves from burning.
once butter has reached stage d, immediately add in the garlic and onions, cooking until soft and slightly cooked down.
stir in canned pumpkin, nutmeg, heavy cream and red pepper flakes.
dilute the thick mixture with the reserved pasta water, slowly adding it in, alternating with the parmesan and mixing until the sauce becomes cohesive and slightly thinner.3
fold in cooked pasta into the sauce and season with salt and pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil (if you’re feeling fancy). serve and enjoy!
or any sweet onion, really!
if you forget to save some pasta water, don’t worry, regular water will do just fine.
you can always add more pasta water/water if you want a looser sauce!
Would love to check out your Etsy shop if you revived it! I understand what you mean by not having enough time to keep it going because of work - I started mine in April and it's been sooo difficult being consistent with my shop uploads even though they're just digital downloads.
Also, your pasta recipe looks SO delicious! I will have to try it out later this month when it's a bit cooler outside. I once made a butternut squash and sage pasta which required an insane amount of labor so the canned pumpkin in this recipe is going to be a huge time saver.
Oh I loveeee this piece! I totally relate to the creative person issue - I constantly want to make whether that's writing or baking or creating with my hands. My dream is to write a novel one day, like you, but I get waylaid with other creative ideas along the way.
I'd like some cake and pie recipes for beginners, especially during this time of year 🫶
And thank you so much for sharing this recipe too! I'm going to suggest we have it for dinner next week 🥰🍂