A Clean Kitchen

For some reason a clean kitchen always makes me want to bake and cook. I do wish I had a dishwasher though. By the time I am done I don't really feel like washing dishes.

On today's agenda I have: trying out a new lemon ginger scone recipe(check), granola, bread, and am trying polenta for the very first time.

I made the lemon ginger scones from http://www.fabulousfoods.com/recipes/article/42/17727 . They were pretty easy, besides the time it takes to chop crystallized ginger and zest lemon. They weren't as doughy as the recipe said. It was way too sticky to pat and cut. I scraped it all onto the pan and smoothed it out instead. I also didn't have buttermilk so used a substitute - 1 tablespoon vinegar in milk(let sit 5 minutes).

As a result of not being doughier, they also didn't have the proper scone texture. That aside, they did taste good. You do need to like the flavor of ginger or you will not like this recipe. Every bite gives you a burst of ginger and/or lemon flavor. I will try this recipe 1 more time with a little more flour. If it still isn't texturally right I will check out a different recipe.

BTW, I did wash my breakfast and baking dishes so my kitchen isn't destroyed....yet.

Baking and ramblings

So I was in a car accident the other day. Yeah, not the way you would traditionally start a "I baked a cake" blog posting. Thankfully I wasn't severely injured as one would expect when you rear end a dump truck. A miracle really. In the split second before it happened I thought we would all be seriously injured. My neck is in a lot of pain, my body is sore, and yeah, my neck is in really bad shape right now.

How does this have anything to do with cake baking? Quite a bit in fact. I never realized it actually required muscle to bake a cake. Baking a cake is quite easy normally. Apparently, as I learned today, it can be quite an undertaking when your neck doesn't work so well. Pretty much every part of your body is affected. I am ok using my fingers thankfully. However, anything that requires moving my arm, back or legs hurts.

Why did I make a cake? My husband's birthday was Monday. We celebrate birthdays with cake at my parents' house where we have Sunday dinner pretty much every week. I wanted to make a super special cake and wasn't going to let my neck stop me. Here is the cake I was attempting and should easily have been able to make. http://cafejohnsonia.blogspot.com/2008/03/chocolate-peanut-butter-mousse-cake.html

It should have been easy. I have been baking since I was 6. Apparently I didn't grease the pan enough which is absolutely absurd. I have not had issues with a cake sticking in a very long time. That cake would not come out of the pan. I tried every trick in the book. Anyway, eventually half came out. I am no longer making a cake.

Tomorrow we will have layers of cake crumble, vanilla pudding, and homemade chocolate whipped cream ( http://www.recipes4cakes.com/frostings/whipped_frosting.htm) . Over top I will sprinkle shavings of Ghiradelli white chocolate.

I was getting sick of cake anyway.