Been Baking: Blondies

Taking a break from my self-imposed break to tell you about these blondies, because I need to have them in my life and I just might forget how to make them again if I don't write about them somewhere.

My new baking strategy is use what you have and make it work. So thank God for the Internet and Google. I've been wanting to make Food for the Gods, which someone told me were blondies with mutes, but we were out of nuts, so I decided to make blondies. Then it turns out we didn't have vanilla, but—thank you, Google—it wasn't too hard to find a suitable substitute: almond extract.

So these are a take on the wonderful Simply Recipes' blondies, with the recipe doubled, the butter browned and the vanilla swapped with lovely almond extract.

Been Baking: Red Velvet Cake

Don't let the shoddy photography or tragic icing fool you—this cake was delicious. It was supposed to be a birthday cake for W, but my cake-baking neighbor saved me for the pressure by bringing over a yummy golf-themed carrot cake the morning of the big day (Side note: When looking for a place to settle down, do look for neighbors who bake—I highly recommend it.).

I'd never made a red velvet cake before, but I've had many after I got over the fact that it was so trendy. Ella's first birthday cake had a layer of red velvet and it was amazing. This being my first, I wasn't going for amazing. I was just hoping for edible and red, food-coloring stained fingers crossed.

Recipe for Success: Stop Planning, Start Doing

I don't think any house should be without an oven, but that's just me. I'm not a fantastic baker (unlike my neighbor who is an unassuming but undiscovered Cake Boss), but I've loved to bake ever since I was little when my mom would let me mix the batter and lick the spoon. I miss those innocent days before people cared about salmonella and sugar content. 

When we moved to our new townhouse, we had to give up the oven my mom had passed down to me. I agreed, but only on the condition that we'd get a new one to fit the smaller space. A year passed and due to financial limitations, the promise was still only a promise. Then we got the money (a gift from my mom—I love you, Mom!), but couldn't buy it until we were absolutely sure we didn't need the money for something else. (You'd be surprised how often that happens when you have a child.) When we finally bought the oven, it took weeks before we could have it installed—wiring problems, worker problems, we'll do it tomorrow problems. Then it was installed but I had three projects on my plate and deadlines to meet. Then work loosened up and we didn't have any darn vanilla. When we got the vanilla, we'd run out of brown sugar. When we'd gathered all the ingredients, E just wouldn't take a nap.

It seems like, as with most of my projects, having the perfect conditions is just wishful thinking.