BREAD

Today I decided to make bread to take to the girl I visit teach. I made a loaf of banana bread that looked and smelled perfect when I took it out of the oven. I didn't want it to burn or get over-done so I thought I should take it out of the pan and put it on a cooling rack pretty quickly. BAD IDEA. I tipped it upside down and gently shook it, hoping the bread would slide right out. It didn't. (I DID remember to spray it with Pam, but apparently I wasn't generous enough.) No worries. I took a knife around the edges of the bread to release it from the pan, tipped it upside down again and shook some more. Still the loaf didn't come out... instead a bunch of banana goop came out the top/middle of the bread. Great, not only messy, but that means the inside is undercooked. When the loaf finally released, half of the bottom crust stuck to the pan instead of coming out with the bread. WHY?! I guess on the positive side Bret and I get to eat a yummy but akward looking loaf of bread since it wasn't good enought to give away.

To make myself feel better I decided to make a second loaf, this time using a recipe from our bread-maker recipe book for Cinnamon Bread. I don't know if I didn't measure something correctly or if it didn't rise the right way in the bread machine, but after following the directions I was given (I read them three times... I hope I followed them!) the dough came out extremely sticky and it hadn't really risen. I assumed this was how it was supposed to be and decided to be extra generous in sprinkling the counter with flour. However, the dough stuck to EVERYTHING! My hands, the rolling pin, the counter, my hands, the spatula, my hands, the bag of flour (as I tried to pour out more), and my hands. Seriously, there was more dough stuck to my hands than there was on the counter and I honestly could not get it off. After adding about 2 cups of flour, making a phenomenal mess, contemplating throwing the dough at the wall, and crying, I ended up throwing it away. I was grumpy for the next hour. I considered trying a third loaf of bread but I was out of flour (probably a good thing).

However, in attempt to end on a more positive note, the rice-a-roni, chicken, and frozen green beans I made for dinner were a hit. Maybe I should stick to making things from a box or that only require heating up.