I've mentioned here previously – several times – that my cooking / baking efforts aren’t going well. “Honey, if you don’t cook, you get so you can’t cook,” said my mother-in-law. I have diligently continued to cook, but I’m still getting so I can’t cook. I hope I will eventually get better, but then, I’ve been hoping that my whole life. And while it was ingrained in me in my youth that “practice makes perfect,” I have always believed that other factors are involved, like talent and ability.
This
last failure was an angel food cake from scratch. I bought liquid egg whites (Lucerne
brand from Albertsons), and I thought they looked strange – kinda milky. In
fact, I checked to be sure it really was egg whites. Well, I beat the heck
outta those egg whites and they never did stiffen up. I was afraid I was going
to burn out my stand mixer! I researched online for advice without finding help
for the immediate situation, so in the end, I just stirred in the flour and
powdered sugar, poured the mixture into the tube pan, and plopped it in the
oven. The mixture was so thin that it seeped through the bottom of the pan and
onto the freshly cleaned oven floor. (I had to clean it after the previous
fail, a chocolate coconut impossible pie.)
Well, I did read that it’s best to use real egg whites, and so I’m anxious to try again. However, the news regarding the loss of eggs due to the avian flu does not bode well. Eggs will be expensive again, they say. Well – so what.
Oh – how did the angel food cake turn out, you ask. We ate it. It tasted like angel food cake. It was just dense, like the ones you see at a store bakery. Maybe they use their store-brand egg whites.
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| Promotional photo, Herrschner's, Inc. |
And I’m not fairing much better with other creative activities. I started an afghan using the Tunisian (afghan) stitch, and I swear, I’ve had to restart six times. It’s frustrating since I learned this stitch in childhood. I even understand the pattern, and still I struggle. I now count the stitches upon completion of every row. It's time-consuming but less so than discovering the error with completion of the next row. This is an old project – a kit purchased at least 25 years ago in my "pansy" period. I ask myself if it’s worth my time. It’s going to take a while, especially if I have to re-do each row. I just don’t want to give in. KW
4 comments:
You're game to keep trying! You cook from scratch and in these days, that's pretty amazing. I myself would never attempt to make an angel food cake from scratch, so pat yourself on the back and keep on truckin'. Err, bakin'!
I have been buying the most beautiful eggs from a friend who lives in Viola. I pay $5 a dozen, but they are organic and come in colors--blue, tan, deep red, light red, and even a little green. They are almost too beautiful to use! Her husband is a deputy sheriff and they have three little boys, so I'm happy to subsidize their little farm.
My folks always bought cream and eggs from local sellers, never from the store. It was better locally, and as you point out, it's also support of local farmers. Good for you! And the eggs sound lovely. I've never heard of such a thing.
I remember a time when Mother lost her touch with divinity. Sister Nina insisted the farm-fresh eggs were too large, resulting in too much egg white for the meringue. That proved to be the problem, but I don't remember exactly what they did. I suspect they bought eggs from the store.
Well, wonderful things come out of your kitchen. You're really more venturesome than I.
This is a tale of your ingredient failing, not of your ability failing! I don’t do many fancy baked goods so when I made a pecan pie not long ago, it was a gamble. It took forever to look like it was done and finally I gave in because it had been SO long in the oven! It WAS done and some of the pecans got a little scorched. Now that’s something I would probably get better at if I did it regularly.
You are right, Hallie, that my ingredient didn't work. As for your issue, as I recall, your oven doesn't always heat correctly. And I keep saying that some day I will be really good at the things I do. Not sure it will ever happen, so I'm trying to develop an attitude of enjoying what I do rather than expecting perfection.
As for the angel food cake, the mixes are expensive now, which was what prompted me to try from scratch. Perhaps a mix is still the most cost-effective way to go.
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