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My, how things change...
Oct. 15th, 2010 07:32 pmToday, I made chicken marsala and pumpkin spice cake from scratch.
I find this equally hilarious and awesome. A couple of years ago, I could not even have conceived of being able to make anything from scratch. For chicken marsala, I'd go to a restaurant. For the pumpkin spice cake, I'd either look for a mix at the grocery store, or wait for someone else to bake it. I would have been horrified at the idea of having to deal with flour, and eggs, and cooking wine. Today? I had some chicken breasts that I wanted to eat, and I searched till I found a recipe where I had almost everything I needed, and I just made it. As it happens, it came out tasting a little odd, but not bad. Certainly edible, and a lot cheaper than a restaurant. As for the cake? It doesn't even occur to me anymore to look for store-bought mixes. I spent about fifteen minutes in the baking aisle last night, and I don't think I even looked at them.
The pumpkin spice cake in question is an experiment for Thanksgiving. Since Aunt D makes dinner, and is forever stressing out about it, I try to help by providing dessert. Last year's pumpkin dump cake was a total flop, so I'm looking for something different. Pumpkin in general doesn't seem to be all that popular with this particular Thanksgiving crowd, but it's traditional, goshdarnit. So, I'm trying out recipes. This particular cake is pumpkin, but it's at least as much spice cake, with a healthy dose of chocolate. Hopefully it turns out. I'm going to see Aunt D tomorrow, so I'll be taking a couple of pieces with me, and see whether she thinks it'll work. If not, there a few fruity cakes and cobblers I can try.
That last sentence makes the me of a couple of years ago shake her head in amazement.
I find this equally hilarious and awesome. A couple of years ago, I could not even have conceived of being able to make anything from scratch. For chicken marsala, I'd go to a restaurant. For the pumpkin spice cake, I'd either look for a mix at the grocery store, or wait for someone else to bake it. I would have been horrified at the idea of having to deal with flour, and eggs, and cooking wine. Today? I had some chicken breasts that I wanted to eat, and I searched till I found a recipe where I had almost everything I needed, and I just made it. As it happens, it came out tasting a little odd, but not bad. Certainly edible, and a lot cheaper than a restaurant. As for the cake? It doesn't even occur to me anymore to look for store-bought mixes. I spent about fifteen minutes in the baking aisle last night, and I don't think I even looked at them.
The pumpkin spice cake in question is an experiment for Thanksgiving. Since Aunt D makes dinner, and is forever stressing out about it, I try to help by providing dessert. Last year's pumpkin dump cake was a total flop, so I'm looking for something different. Pumpkin in general doesn't seem to be all that popular with this particular Thanksgiving crowd, but it's traditional, goshdarnit. So, I'm trying out recipes. This particular cake is pumpkin, but it's at least as much spice cake, with a healthy dose of chocolate. Hopefully it turns out. I'm going to see Aunt D tomorrow, so I'll be taking a couple of pieces with me, and see whether she thinks it'll work. If not, there a few fruity cakes and cobblers I can try.
That last sentence makes the me of a couple of years ago shake her head in amazement.
