Ok, I've officially had the worst baking day ever.
#84125 - 06/28/04 03:22 PM
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atomic rose
Reged: 06/01/04
Posts: 7013
Loc: Maine (IBS-A stable since July '05!)
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I'm actually a really good cook. I am. I swear! You'd never know it today, though, that's for sure.
I decided I was getting tired of eating dry cereal for breakfast. Years ago, I used to make "oatmeal breakfast cookies" - a single-serving concoction of oatmeal and applesauce, sweetened and baked, that was kind of between cookies and granola. I tried to recreate them from memory, and it was a disaster - just like little bricks. Into the garbage they went, strike one.
So I was browsing through fatfree.com, and I decided to try the Blueberry-Oatmeal Breakfast Cake... picturing all kinds of coffee-cake-like goodness. It cooled a little, I cut a piece, and... um, let's just say that "dense" isn't even strong enough of an adjective for this stuff. It was like chewing half-dried cement. Into the trash it went, strike two.
Finally, I decided to make Kree's cobbler, with a mixture of canned peaches (yes, well-drained) and fresh blueberries. Forty minutes of baking goes by, and it's not browned, but a toothpick comes out clean, so I take it out. I let it cool a little, I start to cut into it... and it's nothing but goo underneath. Unbaked, sticky batter-goo. I put it back in the oven for another half hour, and it's just getting gooier and gooier as the fruit breaks down. It's not in the trash yet, but I'm considering that strike three and I'm DONE in the kitchen for one day!
I give up! LOL
I almost put this in the recipe forum, but then I figured it would be better off in here, where more people could get a laugh at my expense.  Actually, I'm laughing too. Just a year ago, I was considering culinary school - maybe I should have gone after all, just to learn the basics all over again.
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Hey Casey,
Had to laugh at your comments because I have never been able to bake desserts from scratch, either. They always turn out like a brick.
I made a Duncan Hines dark chocolate fudge cake the other day and it turned out great. I read on one of the posts that it was safe and I tried it and I have not had any bad reaction to it. Why can't my recipes from scratch turn out that way? I am going to try the Peppermint Fudge Cake posted in the recipe index on this site...It is from scratch, though, so I don't know. A lot of these recipes say they are "very easy".....ha ha.....maybe to some people but not for you and me. Huh??
Barbie
PS: Did you see Heather's comment about the mistake on the cinnamon? Guess we're not nuts after all looking for something that's not there. She is so sweet to respond.
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I imagine we've all had days like that. Mine usually happen when company is on the way. 
sperry_twiggins
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Oh dear, Casey,
I'm sorry you're having a Bad Baking Day. I know how you feel; I've had my share!
Do you like banana bread? Our own Shanna has THE BEST recipe. I make this all the time for hubby and me. Hubby LOVES it; he'll fix it for himself when I'm still in bed. We slice it and toast it and put Soy Garden on it for breakfast every morning. It's FABULOUS:
Shanna' Incredible Banana Bread
Blueberry Oatmeal Breakfast Cake? I bet you used fresh wild Maine blueberries, didn't you? OMG! That's my favoritest food in the whole wide world.
Casey, when I was a little girl, at my daddy's home on Lake Kezar in Lovell, Maine, early in the morning I'd grab a pail and jump in my little rowboat (her name was "Dagmar") and row out to Blueberry Island. I'd pick an entire bucket full of fresh wild blueberries and row back to the cottage. But I'd eat half before I got back! Oh, Girlfriend, they are THE BEST!
When we moved up here to Washington State, I thought maybe I could grow them. WRONG! I finally called Maine Department of Agriculture and asked them how I could do it, but they said it's impossible; it's been tried before by several colleges in Maine, and they literally have to be wild -- seeded and grown on their own, by themselves. They like only a particular kind of soil too. How discouraging.
Out here I have to settle for Washington blueberries; they're not even CLOSE. They're big and meaty, not tiny and sweet and MARVELOUS like you guys have back there.
........ Sigh ........
Bev
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<img src="http://home.comcast.net/~letsrow/smily3481.gif">Bevvy
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THANKFULLY, I didn't waste any of our yummy Maine berries on that awful cake - I used frozen. I did use some fresh berries in the cobbler, but come to think of it, I don't think they were Maine berries. So I don't have to feel too bad about wasting them. 
Your Maine stories always remind me of where I grew up in New York, somehow. My grandparents had a summer cabin on Wolf Lake, in the Catskills - I think I may have even mentioned that before. All around the lake, and all over in our yard, grew wild blueberry bushes. Sometimes we'd make weekend trips up there just to pick berries, but some of my fondest memories are of picking a bowlful, and then sitting on the dock, with my toes in the lake, eating berries (well, ok, I'd occasionally throw a few to the fish, too... did you know sunnies like blueberries?)
I'm sorry you can't have your Maine berries there, but you know, they're right - if they're not wild berries, they just don't taste the same at all.
I will try Shanna's banana bread - it sounds fantastic! I just remembered that I tossed half of my chocolate-applesauce loaf in the freezer last week, so until the bananas are black, I'm not stuck eating cereal.
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Rose,
I'm so sorry about the bad baking day. I've had my share as well. I've been challenged this berry season being new to this IBS thing. I love fresh berries this time of year. Strawberries are awesome. If I let them soak a bit in sugar and then have them with buttermilk biscuits it seems to be OK. I am definitely challenged with dealing with the fresh fruit thing. I love raw fruit and veggies and that has been the worst thing for me with this diet.
S.
VERmontlY frustrated
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I'm reading this right before I have to leave for work and haven't even read the other posts but had to reply it was so funny!
Sorry you had a BBD but please know I'm laughing with you not at you! I come from a long line of fabulous cooks on both sides of my family and guess what - I can't cook! This has long been a family joke that I too think is pretty funny - I just laugh and eat what the great food everyone else has made! I cook for my immediate family every night and most of the time it's just so so. I can bake better than I cook.
When I found Heather's diet I decided to use my breadmaker which had been collecting dust for years. I followed the recipe in the guide - substituting soy milk for milk etc. and baked a loaf. It was square and hard like a brick. I thought I must have done something wrong so I baked another and another and another all the same. My husband thought this was hilarious and proceeded to tell everyone. My BIL asked if he could use the bread to brick his driveway, and our friends starting calling our home during the day when we work and leaving messages for Kim's Bakery ordering Brick Bread.
Anyway, once I added a little more liquid, the bread was fine. Most people would have known right from the start that the dough was too stiff but oh well...... Through trial and error I've gotten a little better but I'll never be a natural! Heather's diet not only helped me feel better but is making me a better cook/baker!
Hope you have a great day Casey!
Kim
P.S. While I was typing this I was cooking pasta (which is the one thing I usually do well) to bring to work for lunch and burnt it!
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