Random, incoherant, and nonsensical rantings about baking

I like to bake. I really do and I wish I could do more of it. Or maybe I like the IDEA of baking. Who knows for sure. What I do know is that I have been frustrated this last week. I dont know if it is because Im not used to having three people staring at me while Im creating, but I am screwing up a lot. With them sitting there asking me questions or just staring, I feel like I have my own foodnetwork show or something. Like Im Emeril and have an audience. They are not allowed to come around to my side of the kitchen either when Im working so they sit on the bar stools and stare at me. I think I will have T insall a light up "applause" sign on the wall, wouldnt that be fun.

Anyway, cook books and some on line recipes are annoying because they do not tell the whole story to someone who is lacking in brain cells. Folks, you have to spell it out to me or I just may miss it. When I miss it, it is not pretty, I get cranky.

For instance I was trying to make lemon bars, which I love. Anyway, the first batch stuck to the dish pretty good, and so they were a mess but they tasted awesome. I made a second batch, thinking I just did not let them cool long enough. They still stuck to the pan. The recipe said UNGREASED, so I did not grease. I stared at that stupid recipe for ever and then the word PAN jumped out of me. Maybe I was supposed to use a pan instead of a glass baking dish? Would that matter? Im thinking yes. I have neither the energy or patience to do it a third time though, too bad.

OK blunder number two. I made red velvet cake balls, which I can not quit eating by the way. Anyway everything was going great with them until about half way through dipping the first pan of balls in chocolate. They had been in the fridge like the recipe said to do, and then I was rolling them in the chocolate, and eventually they started coming apart in the chocolate. I actually figured it out though. You cant take the whole tray out of the fridge when you roll them you have to take a few balls at a time, or they will get too warm. They need to stay COOL while you do this.

So, what is my point? My point is that recipes should consider people like me who are common sense challenged. The cake ball recipe should have mentioned that you should only take a few out at a time, and not the whole tray.

Im wondering if a cook book that takes people like me into consideration would sell. I mean it would be like a cook book with kids with bigger words; it would spell it all out, which apparently is what I need. They cant just assume I KNOW these things, can they?

That is one of the reasons I like the Pioneerwoman.com. She even gives pictures of what she is doing, step by step.

By the way, if anyone could tell me how to insert a link to a web page into the body of my blog I would appreciate it, because then it would look like I know what Im doing, which is always nice.