I learned that I suck at being domestic.
First I thought I'd make a tasty wassail. Failed....funky taste. Note to self: next time omit the pineapple juice.
Then I thought I'd make some fudge. Failed....consistency of poo.
Then I made some lemon crinkle cookies. Failed....overcooked, hard as rocks.
Finally, I said to myself, "okay, this is getting ridiculous...stick to something you know how to do Jen!"
So, I decided on white chocolate covered pretzels. I've made these a million times, so surely I couldn't mess them up.
Failed....burned the chocolate. Twice.
I give up.
No neighbor gifts this year. Or maybe I'll just give out candy canes.
Will somebody PLEASE teach me how to cook?
Or bake.
Or whatever you call it.
Wish I could help but I've been working on a caramel dip in my crock pot all day and even though it was supposed to be done in 8 hours, I'm now going on 10 and it doesn't seem to be anywhere near ready. I like the candy cane idea!
ReplyDeleteI have a really good wassail recipe if you want it.
ReplyDelete@ Sarah - yes to candy canes!
ReplyDelete@ Abbie - I have a different one that I like, but I thought I'd try something new and it didn't go over very well. I would love to get your recipe!
@ Sarah and Abbie - I miss you both!!
Miss you, too!
ReplyDeleteAwwww Jen, yikes! When the bad juju starts, I usually bow out before I'm defeated by everything. Maybe try again today? You can do it! If you want to make chocolate covered pretzels, just slowly melt the chocolate (and Gulfwax) in the microwave instead. 30 seconds, stir....30 more seconds, stir. Good luck and Merry Christmas!! :-)
ReplyDelete@ Mrs. Davis - The funny thing is that I was using the microwave to melt the chocolate. I was doing really good with my 30 second intervals until I decided that a 60 second interval wouldn't hurt anything...wrong! I am thinking you need to make a trip to Wyoming and teach me how to cook/bake!!
ReplyDeleteOh Jen, you're cute. I love that you kept trying with different things. I also made creamy chocolate fudge and it turned out like poo. So my mom helped me roll it into balls and then roll those in cocoa powder or crushed nuts, and I put them in little cupcake holders and gave them away to neighbors. Failed fudge balls! But what about your hot chocolate recipe, you could totally give that away in jars and everyone would love it.
ReplyDeleteI've learned that double boilers are the only way to go when melting chocolate despite what anyone says. hope you have better luck!
ReplyDeleteA trip to South Carolina sounds much warmer haha! :-)
ReplyDeleteMrs. D - ha ha ha. You are right. You will freeze your butt off if you come here. A trip to South Carolina sounds much better!!
ReplyDeleteHere's the thing about cooking. Or baking. There's a whole world of understanding for each different genre. Candy sounds like a fun afternoon project, but really its a chemistry seminar. Baking sounds so homey and such, but there's a lot to know about ratios of flour to liquids to leavens.
ReplyDeleteSo my suggestion is to start very simple; use a formula you've found reliable; don't rely on any tricks, gimmicks, gadgets or timesavers. And then do that thing a lot of times. Over time you will find that what seems like, "well duh," is actually the secret to understanding something in a different recipe.
Yesterday we made great-great-grandma's julekage which had great directions for everything except how much flour. It just said, "add flour." Since I've worked with flour a lot it turned out okay. But it was because I made one bread recipe a hundred times before I tried something new.
I love ya Jen, I think you're awesome! Can't wait to see you guys.