Failures and Successes in Bakery

So, it's true! I am not a baker! It's not in my pool gene, I guess. I can cook, but bake, not so much. As you probably know from my husband's previous blog, I almost poisoned my family with a plastic-spatula cheesecake! Some of you may wonder, how did the spatula ended in the mix? Pretty simple: take ginger snaps, butter and scrape the sides of the food processor with the spatula, turn on the processor and boila! You have a spatula cheesecake!

I'm glad to report that I could still provide with a dessert that didn't send people to the ER on Thanksgiving! The Joy of Hospitality (book) came to the rescue in the shape of a "freezy pumpkin pie" (I owe you one Heather Castro!). This pie was a piece of cake (Ha!). No cooking, no making the mix, and, most important, not making the crust!! Oh, and they are very tasty! I will post the recipes some other time....

But, I was not going to let my lack of baking experience, or my pity party (that I thoroughly enjoyed until corrected by Dave) dictate my future on cheesecake making!! God was very kind in that we got to celebrate two Thanksgivings! On Saturday we celebrated Thanksgiving with Dave's dad, Virginia, and the DC Spitzbergs (Ed, Neesham & Beemer).
So, on Friday I tried to make the pumpkin cheesecake again, and I'm happy to report that this time I was successful and I did not include plastic utensils in the mix!! That's good to know, right family? Well, the cheesecake was very yummy (thanks Rachel Ray!) and I will also post that recipe some time. I do have to warm everyone: it's very time consuming, but worth it.

Finally, I learned some lessons from my baking extravaganza:

1. Plastic spatulas against sharp objects get cut
2. The food processor can process food and other materials
3. This one is crucial: you have to read the whole recipe before starting! As I was working on cheesecake numero dos, I read: "introduce spring-form pan in roasting pan, cover with boiling water...." I thought: "A roasting pan? Oh, oh! I don't own a roasting pan!" Mind you by then there was no turning back, the mix was finally done, and so was the crust! Again, God provided in the shape of a kind landlord who found a roasting pan and lent it to me
4. Follow instructions. Period. So, like I said I cook but mainly it's "a ojo" (that stands for I-don't-measure-anything-just-add-ingredients-and-test). But, with baking it doesn't work like that! So, if the recipe reads: "touch the cake in the middle and sides" it does not mean: "insert a knife and when it cools off it will break in the middle!"

OK, I think that's if for now in the baking world. For those of you who are baking queens (or kings) my apologies for what I just put you through. And for those who are baking-deficient like me, I say: see, there are people who are more clueless than you!
Here are some pics from the second Thanksgiving celebration.

Check out the garganchuan turkey!!

This is the cheesecake. Notice the nice cut in the middle!

Dave braved the cold a grilled some lamb chomps.
Notice Ed's face of: "why am I here?"

Beemer getting ready for the season!
He did say he'd rather be in his giraffe suit though! How un-festive Beem!