I ran out of butter...fail

2010-02-16T00:29:00.000-08:00

Some days I don't know what possesses me to step into the kitchen...I scrubbed mine down earlier today, the sink looked great and that inspired me to mess it up again. Apparently too clean looking. On the other hand I did have a couple of promises to fulfill...for Cratty Bacon Toffee Crunch (just about ready) and a first ever batch of Vegan Caramels are pending (the vegan sweetened condensed milk has to chill in the fridge for 24 hours). I have to interject here...I had no plans to write a blog tonight because I have one already in process that picks up where my last one left off. I haven't published any new ones because aesthetically I know my page can look better and I want to learn/teach myself how to do that before going too far. I am reading a book with highlighter in hand that will get me to the place I want to be. It's good I am telling you all this because I don't want to lose any one's support or interest in reading. I appreciate the encouragement I received after I published my first post several weeks ago. Thank you for that!

Now back to today...I really don't mind making mistakes, but don't get me wrong it can be very frustrating. I do crack myself up...maybe my neighbors can hear me through the shared kitchen wall and think I'm crazy. I really wondered if they could smell what was happening tonight...my cat ran under a chair to hide at one point. I burned 2 batches of toffee...see photo top left. That is the batch that I eventually threw away. This photo on the right is from the first time I burnt toffee and that experience is going to be a post all on it's own when I share my Christmas experiments. There is a big difference in the level of burnt-ness...this one on the right has some fancy dark brown swirlies going on and a BUBBLE! It was epic. As you can see in the burnt blob above from tonight the color was an even, consistent, shade of brown (which is typically a good thing). However, I had to turn a fan on in the kitchen and open my sliding glass doors to let fresh air in...my poor kitty.

I got right back on the horse, grabbed another pot and tried again. Not too sure how well the second batch came out though...there is a short window when the mixture's temperature reaches the necessary 300 degrees and comes off the stove top before it gets any hotter. I may have missed the window with the second batch. I poured it out anyway, added the milk chocolate layer and the bacon. I will give it a crack in the morning and see how it goes. Thankfully I have plans to be be with my favorite candy critic...Mel is my ultimate judge for true success or failure. I would have made a third attempt but I ran out of butter. Man that never happens.

I was still antsy after playing with toffee so I decided I would make some baby loaves of banana bread...this is a recipe I grew up eating and when I went home to Boston for Christmas my Mom taught me how to make it. I have my own copy of the recipe now and have successfully made it three times since early January. Tonight...was my first banana bread failure.

I had already mashed up the bananas before I was reminded I ran out of butter...no problem, I had some cubes of Earth Balance that were set aside for vegan recipes. Eh, how different can it make the bread taste...my Mom makes hers with margarine and it's delicious. I went on and got all the other ingredients together and noticed I didn't have enough all-purpose flour left...but I did have an unopened sack of whole wheat pastry flour. Again no problem...I continued. When I got to the part where I needed to fold in the flour it seemed like there was more than usual in my measuring cup, but I double-checked and it said one and a half. I kept going noticing my batter wasn't as liquidy...the batter was a different hue of brown, but eh...I went on and filled the pan. I set my timer for 40 minutes and started to clean my kitchen. When I got to the measuring cup that I used for my flour I took a closer look and the container is for measuring up to 2 pints not 2 cups. Whoops! So there is 1 1/2 pints of whole wheat pastry flour in my little banana loaves.

They baked A LOT quicker than the true recipe and they rose! I took a bite of one...they are edible, but dry for sure. They will be eaten, but tomorrow a trip to the grocery store to pick up some butter will be on the top of my to do list. So what have I learned...if my butter supply gets to 4 cubes or less I need to buy more and maybe it's not a good idea to bake when one is distracted my international sporting events. So happy for the couple from China who won the gold medal in pairs skating. It's all good. Image of Banana Bread above right is how it is supposed to look. Image to the left is the over-floured, butter-less fail.

Thanks for reading!

Jeannie aka The Imperfect Baker with pretty awesome bed head.

It started with a burnt birthday breakfast...

2010-01-21T21:27:00.000-08:00

I had officially been unemployed for one week and I was damned if I wasn't going to enjoy my own national holiday.

I feel the need to interject a few facts in here:

1. I am originally from Massachusetts.
2. I have been living in the Portland Metro Area of Oregon since October 2008
3. My family is 3000 miles in the opposite direction.
4. I love my family
5. Family=Mom, Dad, Billy & Greg, Susan, Dan, Mike & Drew, and my Nana.
6. Until October 12, 2009, I had never spent my birthday without my family.
7. I am 41

I am not a good cook, nor have I ever aspired to be. I am not a baker, but I have had moments where I have obsessed over one recipe until I felt I had perfected it. Most notably an extremely buttery shortbread recipe that originally came from Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts and Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Bars from Betty Crocker. In fact it had been over 12 years since I baked anything...until now.

Back to my birthday...I got myself up early and made a big breakfast. Buttermilk pancakes and bacon. I love bacon, I am a firm believer that Bacon makes everything better. Until recent months I wasn't cooking it much for myself instead I would go to a local pub and find whatever sandwich I could on the menu that included bacon. My favorite instant heart attack is called the "Wilbur" traditionally a burger I always order it sub-chicken. It's served with bacon, cheddar and a fried egg. Fantastic! There will be more about bacon in future posts...for now back to my breakfast and the fact that I burned my bacon. I know this probably looks inedible to most of you but it was one of the most memorable breakfasts of my life. Corny and symbolic of my new found independence.

After breakfast I realized that if I was going to have a cake then I was going to have to make it myself...back east everyone had Monday, October 12th off because Columbus Day is an observed holiday. My family did have a party that day and a cake, I just couldn't attend. My Mom made her traditional birthday call, sang to me and then passed the phone around so I could say "hi" to everyone.

I bought a cake mix the night before but I didn't have a cake pan. I did have a silicone muffin rack thing so I mixed everything up and figured cupcakes would work out better. I failed sort of...the silicone thing didn't allow for an easy pop out of the cupcakes. I ended up slicing the tops off all of them...I had regular and mini. I had a mess left behind of all the perfectly moist bits stuck in the muffin pans so I pryed them all out and filled a bowl. Not sure what to do with the bottoms I focused on the tops. My friend Baret was at my place by now watching me turn my tops into cakewiches. I had store bought chocolate frosting ready to go.

After some laughs at home we headed down the street to a local pub, met up with our friend Charles, had a yummy dinner with my favorite beer and when it was time for dessert the waitress gave us some plates for the consuming of many cakewiches. We hung out long enough for Charles' wife to come over after she got out of work and drank another round. Thank you so much Baret, Charles and Maggie for celebrating with me...and thank YOU for reading.

Take care,

Jeannie aka: The Imperfect Baker