Strength in the kitchen

Let me say first that I don't really cook. I mean, I can get by here and there, but I'm not one to make a big time meal and invite everyone I know over. My idea of cooking is every once in awhile whipping up something small, then giving in to my ongoing desire for hot dogs and cereal. Separately, of course.

But lately, I've been trying to cook more. I realized I have this huge collection of cookbooks that I haven't opened. So I decided to jump in and roll up my sleeves. I've had some good experiences on the regular cooking front. However, the baking has been stressing me out.

I tried on two separate occasions to make these banana nut muffins. Both times, they were kinda yucky. The first time, they were just horribly yucky. But I forgot to add the baking power that time. The second time, they weren't as yucky as the first, but not anything I'd want to eat, let alone share with my friends. Not friends I wanted to keep anyway.

So I consulted with the bakers in my life as to how to make this better. I learned that the banana I use must not be green or yellow, but on the brown side for this to be a success. This is hard for me because I love bananas. To say it was hard for me to sacrifice one banana for my recipe is an understatement, but I did what I had to do.


Anyway, I got all my ingredients together ....




Along with the sacrificial browning banana .... *Sniff, Sniff* ....





Then I spooned them out into the muffin pan ....



About 15 minutes later, I opened the oven and this was the result ....




They tasted fine, but not something I want to smack my mama for. Perhaps I should try again with a tad bit more sugar. Or maybe I should just consider the fact that I just don't like banana nut muffins. *Shrug* If anyone has any baking advice, I'd love to hear it.