You had a bad day, you had a bad day...

Some days, nothing works right. That, in a nutshell, was Thursday. I had been under the impression that this was going to be a slow week. Then on late Wednesday into Thursday, orders came in. So I baked. But somehow, the baking just didn't work the way it was supposed to. One recipe came out of the oven looking just wrong, so I thought for a while. Then it came to me: I had forgotten to put in baking soda. Interestingly, leaving out the leavening ingredient doesn't just keep the rising from happening. The flavor is actually different. I wish I had taken a picture of the messed-up loaf and then the correct one, because the difference was shocking and fascinating. I know, it is probably fascinating only to me, but what can you do. The only science I enjoy is food science.

Then, the Twix bar experiment failed spectacularly. Because I am not sufficiently scientific, I neglected to follow the scientific method and proper experiment protocol, namely, I changed too many variables in one fell swoop. I should know that it should go one at a time, but I am impatient and short on time. The downside of having steady business (even when I doubt myself) is a shortage of time to experiment. Someday I will manage my time better and have that flexibility. Anyway, the caramel layer wasn't just stiffer, it was like glass. I did not want my family or customers to get stabbed by shards of caramel, so into the garbage it went. The glaze on the lemon cookies was a little too floppy, so the circles of glaze were not as pretty as they should have been. The whoopie pies were off - the cookies did not look right. But on the plus side, the pecan pie thumbprints came out just right, and the coffee and cream brownies were yum. So, not a total loss, just not exactly how I want things to come out.

Shabbat was nice. Elisheva and Chaya were here for Shabbat, and Lori and Seth were here for lunch. And before you blink an eye, Shabbat is over and life starts over again. Wishing you a shavua tov.

Dvora