Age Doesn't Always Bring Wisdom- 100th Post

Welcome to my 100th blog post! Wow, I can hardly believe I've already hit 100 posts. It's actually been about a year since I created this blog, but I didn't really settle into using it until January. And since then I've gotten a lot out of it. I love having a place to talk about what I'm doing in my kitchen. I've made some great blog friends, and found some great recipes. I wanted to make something special for my 100th post, so I figured it was about time I made the Orange-Cranberry Pound Cake. I read about this cake before I had even started really posting on my own blog. It looked absolutely divine. So divine in fact that I always put off making it, fearing that it would be so good that I wouldn't be able to stop eating it till it all disappeared. But I figured if there was ever a time to make a recipe I've been yearning to from one of the first blogs I read, now was it. And, ironically, this recipe proved that just because I've attained the mighty heights of my 100th post doesn't mean that thing are going to go my way 100 percent of the time. I don't know exactly what I did wrong, but my cake looks nowhere near as gorgeous as Peabody's. It tastes pretty good, and as I obviously didn't taste her's, I can only imagine that it tastes as it should. I either didn't grease and flour my pan evenly enough, or perhaps I should have adjusted the baking time due to my bundt pan being very dark. Whatever it was, my cake just isn't that pretty. Yummy, but not pretty. Anyway, I'm sure that most people could have more success than me, so I wanted to share the recipe. Really, just look at Peabody's pictures, that lone should convince you to mix one up yourself.

Orange-Cranberry Pound Cake
Recipe from Peabody
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
3 cups sugar
5 eggs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
zest of one medium orange
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon fresh nutmeg
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup dried cranberries

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the milk, vanilla, and orange zest.
• Sift together the spices, flour, and salt; add them to the wet ingredients, stirring gently just until well combined. Fold in the dried cranberries. Pour the batter into a greased and floured 10 inch tube pan and bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Let the cake cool in the pan, then turn out onto plate.

My notes: Thanks to everyone who stops by this little page. I really appreciate it!

Two Left Hands

Sometimes I feel like the biggest klutz in the world. Lately even the simplest things seem to take me HOURS to make. Last night round 2 of Orange Ricotta Pancakes was a huge hassle, bordering on a disaster. The first 3 pancakes into the pan weren't cooking at all. I don't know what these people at Everyday Food mean by saying large skillet, but when I put my largest skillet on the stove I imagine it should be enough. 3 tablespoons of oil? Are you people crazy? And at medium-low heat, how do you expect my pancakes to cook in 1/4" of oil. After completely dumping the first 3, along with all the dang oil, I started over. I turned the heat up to medium, and rubbed the pan with an oil soaked paper towel. I also set the kitchen timer, to help ensure that I didn't try to flip the pancakes too soon. I seem to do that often. That helped a great deal, but things were still annoying. And then I burned my left hand, which sucked. Once again, they tasted great, and some of them actually came out looking pretty good. But not pretty enough for a photograph, ha. I'm sure it will be another 2 months before I forget about what a pain they are, only remember how good they taste and decide to make them again.