I guess I'm going to have to learn to bake

[jennielynn1970]

Hey, I bake with gas, and as long as the oven works, baked goods come out fine, lol.

I found out that you CANNOT put a pan on the lower rack to catch drippings of pies because that will block the heat and cause the oven to overheat. That's what happened the last time when the oven overheated. I had no idea I couldn't do that!

Baking is precise, however, let me tell you a story...
When I was in elementary school and middle school I HATED math. Hated it with a passion and basically failed everything past long division. I did love to bake, and never considered it math.

My bus got me home about an hour before my mom would get home from her job at school. In that amount of time, I would take a recipe for cookies and cut it down from making 36 to 4 or 6. Mix it, bake them, and eat them. All before mom got home.

Never ever did I realize back then that that was math. Division. Once mom caught me, but then said how good the cookies were and she couldn't believe I could do that!

I'm positive there are some things that I didn't cut down exactly, like baking powder, baking soda, cream of tartar (my favorite cookie to make is still Snickerdoodles), so it wasn't THAT precise.

Go for it, I say!! If you're not sure of your oven's temp, buy an oven thermometer and make sure it's right, or if it's too high or too low, adjust your dial/digital accordingly.

For me, baking is therapeutic. If I'm pissed off and frustrated my favorite thing to bake is bread. You have to knead it and punch it down and all that good stuff, lol! I also do a lot of pastries. Tedious work, but it takes my mind off of what ever is bothering me. I'll attach a pic of my Xmas gift to my mom and dad last year. I made my mom an apricot danish pastry, and my dad's was cheese danish pastry. All with home made puff pastry dough.

Unbaked:


Finished (a bit too dark)

[jennielynn1970]

This one won at county fairs...

Nut Rolls

Dough
1/4 lb butter
1/4 lb margerine
1/2 c. sour cream
1/4 c. warm water
5 oz. evaporated milk
2 eggs
1 1/2 Tbsp sugar
5 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 - 2 1/2 tsp. yeast

Filling
2 lbs walnuts
1/4 c. milk
2 Tbsp melted butter
1 c. sugar

Melt butter and margerine. Cool it. Add water and milk, sour cream, eggs, beat well. Add yeast. Mix in flour, blend well. Knead on a floured board. Form into a ball and refridgerate in the fridge overnight.

Next day, roll into long square/rectangle. Spread on filling. Roll up, seal the ends. Place on greased cookie sheet, let raise 30 minutes till almost double. Bake at 375* for 30-35 minutes. Use fork to poke air holes in the roll before baking!!!

[Freedom]

Mary, I grew up with electric. Every apartment I rented had electric. Every place I went, lived, visited, electric.

Seven years ago I bought this house; gas! I am terrified of an open flame. I told Dad we would have to convert it to electric before I would move in.

Famous last words.

Here I am, 7 years later, cooking and baking with gas and loving it. I'm still terrified of the open flame, but once I put the pan on I am all set.

You CAN bake with gas! lol

[RICHARD]

Finished (a bit too dark)

Are you nuts?

That sucker is perfect!

The oatmeal cookie recipe on the back of QUAKER OATS are the BOMB!

--------------------

LOL, I Like to bake too. I made a cake the other day, left it out to cool and forgot about it. I had an ant party on my table the next day.


And another thing is do not use SWEET AND LOW-Told this story before,

I made some kind of cake and the recipe asked for sugar sprinkled on the top- I put S&L on it-it's a sugar substitute? Right?

It's tasted like burnt S&L.

Be precise, but you can do it!

[shepgirl]

Hmm...looks delicious but i don't think I would attempt that. My excuse for not baking is that i don't want to gain weight...seems to work out okay for me. I will bake banana loaves or carrot pineapple loaves but only because they're so easy.

[Cataholic]

That DOES look delicious!!!
I have a gas oven and I do think it is harder to bake with it. Buy a temp gauge...that could help you some.

[Medusa]

Hey, I bake with gas, and as long as the oven works, baked goods come out fine, lol.

I found out that you CANNOT put a pan on the lower rack to catch drippings of pies because that will block the heat and cause the oven to overheat. That's what happened the last time when the oven overheated. I had no idea I couldn't do that!

Baking is precise, however, let me tell you a story...
When I was in elementary school and middle school I HATED math. Hated it with a passion and basically failed everything past long division. I did love to bake, and never considered it math.

My bus got me home about an hour before my mom would get home from her job at school. In that amount of time, I would take a recipe for cookies and cut it down from making 36 to 4 or 6. Mix it, bake them, and eat them. All before mom got home.

Never ever did I realize back then that that was math. Division. Once mom caught me, but then said how good the cookies were and she couldn't believe I could do that!

I'm positive there are some things that I didn't cut down exactly, like baking powder, baking soda, cream of tartar (my favorite cookie to make is still Snickerdoodles), so it wasn't THAT precise.

Go for it, I say!! If you're not sure of your oven's temp, buy an oven thermometer and make sure it's right, or if it's too high or too low, adjust your dial/digital accordingly.

For me, baking is therapeutic. If I'm pissed off and frustrated my favorite thing to bake is bread. You have to knead it and punch it down and all that good stuff, lol! I also do a lot of pastries. Tedious work, but it takes my mind off of what ever is bothering me. I'll attach a pic of my Xmas gift to my mom and dad last year. I made my mom an apricot danish pastry, and my dad's was cheese danish pastry. All with home made puff pastry dough.

Unbaked:


Finished (a bit too dark)

Thanx, sis, ya just blew my excuse for me. LOL

[pomtzu]

Hey, I bake with gas, and as long as the oven works, baked goods come out fine, lol.

I found out that you CANNOT put a pan on the lower rack to catch drippings of pies because that will block the heat and cause the oven to overheat. That's what happened the last time when the oven overheated. I had no idea I couldn't do that!

Baking is precise, however, let me tell you a story...
When I was in elementary school and middle school I HATED math. Hated it with a passion and basically failed everything past long division. I did love to bake, and never considered it math.

My bus got me home about an hour before my mom would get home from her job at school. In that amount of time, I would take a recipe for cookies and cut it down from making 36 to 4 or 6. Mix it, bake them, and eat them. All before mom got home.

Never ever did I realize back then that that was math. Division. Once mom caught me, but then said how good the cookies were and she couldn't believe I could do that!

I'm positive there are some things that I didn't cut down exactly, like baking powder, baking soda, cream of tartar (my favorite cookie to make is still Snickerdoodles), so it wasn't THAT precise.

Go for it, I say!! If you're not sure of your oven's temp, buy an oven thermometer and make sure it's right, or if it's too high or too low, adjust your dial/digital accordingly.

For me, baking is therapeutic. If I'm pissed off and frustrated my favorite thing to bake is bread. You have to knead it and punch it down and all that good stuff, lol! I also do a lot of pastries. Tedious work, but it takes my mind off of what ever is bothering me. I'll attach a pic of my Xmas gift to my mom and dad last year. I made my mom an apricot danish pastry, and my dad's was cheese danish pastry. All with home made puff pastry dough.

Unbaked:


Finished (a bit too dark)

Now that looks delicious - but way too much work to suit me. I guess you could say that I'm a "lazy baker" - breads (like pumpkin, banana, etc), drop cookies, cakes - just so long as I don't have to use a darn, blasted rolling pin. I love pies, but can't make a decent pie crust to save my back side, so I have to resort to the frozen crusts. Not like made from scratch, but not bad either!

[Medusa]

Now that looks delicious - but way too much work to suit me. I guess you could say that I'm a "lazy baker" - breads (like pumpkin, banana, etc), drop cookies, cakes - just so long as I don't have to use a darn, blasted rolling pin. I love pies, but can't make a decent pie crust to save my back side, so I have to resort to the frozen crusts. Not like made from scratch, but not bad either!

There's a local bakery that advertises "Tastes just like homemade". That's the last thing I want unless it's homemade by someone else! LOL

[jennielynn1970]

I STILL can't make a pie crust to save my life. I think I get myself too worked up over it, and then it gets too soft, and then it slides down the sides of the pie pan. I end up with a flat crust, lol. So, if it's a single crust, I use bought pie crusts, if it's double I'll try to do my own, but have bought as backups in the fridge, lol!

Like I said, my baking for me is very therapeutic. It helps me vent frustration and take my mind off other things. Every place I've worked, the co-workers always loved when I had a fight with a boyfriend, because I'd come in with tons of baked goods for a week, lol!


Want something easy, and really yummy??? Do you like molasses crumb cake?? This is so easy to do, bakes up really nicely, and is great to share over coffee or tea. This was a favorite at our morning faculty meetings at my elementary school.

Molasses Crumb Cake
(from Times News Recipe booklet)

4 c. flour
2 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 c. margerine cold
1 1/2 c. dark molasses, karo and honey (1 c. molasses/ 1/3 c. karo, balance honey)
2 c. boiling water
2 tsp. baking soda

Mix flour, sugar, salt and margerine with pasty blender to form crumb mixture. Reserve 1 c. crumbs.

Boil water and pour in molasses, karo and honey. Stir until blended. Add baking soda and pour over crumbs in the mixing bowl while molasses mixture still foaming. Stir to combine, but leaving lumps of crumbs in batter. Pour into a 9 x 13 inch pan. Sprinkle reserved crumbs on top. Bake 45 - 50 minutes at 350*.

[Medusa]

Like I said, my baking for me is very therapeutic. It helps me vent frustration and take my mind off other things.

That's what cooking does for me. Sometimes on Sundays I'll cook so many different things that I almost need a banquet table for them all. Thanskgiving dinner is nothing for me because I like to cook in large volumes anyhow.

This cake sounds yummy. Think I'll add it to the list of things to try. Thanx!