Baking Day, Part II

Last Saturday's Baking Day was so much fun, I just couldn't help but have another. I got a late start on it, though, so I didn't fit quite as much in.




Every Saturday (and Monday. . . and Tuesday . . . etc.) morning starts with my morning "coffee" run. It's ok, because I frequently see Stake President Top there; we both have a drinking problem. So after my shakes had been calmed by a morning infusion of caffeine, I told Lane we ought to run down to Springville to the Stouffer's Thrift shop since our garbage disposal, aka Jack, had eaten all the previously purchased frozen food. On the way to Springville, I chided myself for not having the sense to have thought through the plan since I have a pair of pants that I got for my birthday in January that needed to be returned to JC Penney (too big! Woo hoo!) Lane was agreeable to going to the Thrift Store, home, and back to JC Penney if I would buy him lunch. So we got our stuff at the Thrift Store, went home and crammed it into our already overly full freezer, grabbed the pants and we were off to the Provo Towne Mall.




Now, we are not mall people. We hardly ever go to the mall, especially the Provo mall. This is why I haven't returned the pants yet. But we got the pants exchanged, and headed off to Sears at the other end of the mall, because if we are going to go ALL THAT WAY to the mall in Provo, then dang it, we are going to Sears. White Trash as it may seem, we are Sears Lovers. When we lived in our first apartment in Provo, that's what we would do for date night - wander around at Sears back when it was at the old location on Freedom Blvd and about 500-ish North. It's sad, quite pathetic really, but that's who we are and we've learned to embrace it. I found some cute sweaters there and Lane got himself a new cordless screwdriver since the one he's had for 10+ years will no longer hold a charge. It was a good Sears day.




I asked Lane if he wanted to have lunch at the Red Robin since we were right there, and he said he didn't think their burgers were any better than JCW's bugers, which caused both us to start salivating, so we decided to just drive to AF and hit JCWs. Life is too short to settle for a second rate burger. Evidently everyone in northern Utah County had the same idea. JCW's had barely any room in the lobby area to wait to order, and there were no tables available, and people standing around with trays of food giving the stink eye to people in booths who simply were not eating fast enough. Haters of crowds that we are, we decided we didn't want to deal with the crowd so we went to Wingers up the street. Whew! It was 2:30 by the time we got home from all this.




Since I never got to the pretzels last week, I got them started first thing this week. I still just do the pretzel bites because they are easier to make and eat. Yummy, fresh from the oven and dipped in cream cheese, which I have learned is a pantry staple. We never used to have cream cheese on hand, now I always do, so if you need to borrow some, I have it.

When we were driving home from the mall, Lane suggested I make homemade noodles for the chicken noodle soup I was planning for dinner. "What?" I shrieked. "I can't make noodles! I'm NOT your Grandma!" So he backed down. But when I got home, and had my tummy full, I started to wonder why I couldn't. After all, as someone once told me, it's just ingredients. If I really mess up and have to throw it out, it's just ingredients. So I decided to try.

Guess what? Not that tough! The hardest part (and by hardest, I mean most time consuming) was rolling it out and cutting it. They turned out really yummy, it wasn't that hard, and I will definetly do it again. I'll just have to remember to allow enough time. I made the noodles for the chicken noodle soup, plus some bow ties just for fun that are waiting in the fridge for me to do something with them. I'm thinking Minestrone tomorrow. With Cheddar Bay Biscuits. With spring coming, my soup days are numbered so I'll have to fit in what I can.

I made a from-scratch chocolate cake mix, which I foolishly put in my mini-cake silicone pans. After they were baked and wouldn't pop out of the pans, I remembered that I have trouble with those pans and from-scratch mixes. Don't know why, just do. Plan B was cupcakes. As the cupcakes were cooling, I thought, "Hey - I love extra sugar. Why not fill them with whipped cream?" (Another staple, I've learned.) I filled my Pampered Chef Easy Accent Decorator with whipped cream and filled the cupcakes. I've never done it before, and wasn't sure how it would work. What do you know - it worked beautifully! Frosted with Chocolate Buttercream and Chocolate sprinkles and we have a winner.

You can call me Betty Crocker.