No Pressure!

AARRRGH!  Sorry, I just had to get that out of my system. I have had a tremendously busy week.  For this homebody it has been something nigh to a marathon!  And it hasn't ended yet.  Today I have two separate parties to attend.  Tomorrow we will be going to church in the morning.  Then I will rush back home to get the noon meal on the table, because we are having our families over to celebrate Isaac's birthday. Then its back to my parents church for a Christmas program in the evening.

This isn't really what got me in a tither.  What got me wound tighter than a 10 day clock, was the baking fiasco I encountered.  Yesterday, after I had finished my bi-weekly cleaning of the neighbors ladies house, I came home to tackle the long list of  food items I was going to be preparing for today and tomorrow. 

I dumped all the ingredients for French bread into my bread maker.  No Problem.  I mixed up the cinnamon roll dough. Check. I moved onto Isaac's birthday cake, normally I would just use a boxed mix, but not this time.  I was doing alright until I put in a 1/2 Tablespoon each of baking powder and baking soda instead of the 1 teaspoon it called for.  OOPS! By the time I realized this, it was too late. I put the cake in the oven and hoped for the best. I successfully began to brown the meat and onions for the spaghetti.  However, when I went to check on the cake it looked funny, partially cooked around the edges with a couple dozen bubbles in the center.  I opened the oven door and noticed the oven temperature had fallen to 250 degrees.  I got on the floor and checked on the pilot. No flame.  I shut off the gas and then turned it back on.  It started back up. Five minutes later, you guessed it, no flame.  I called my mom for advice.  She lovingly told me she would just bake another cake and that I could bring the bread down to bake at her house. 

As I was retrieving the dough from the bread machine pan I noticed, to my dismay, that for some odd reason there were hard clumps of unmixed dough at the bottom.  My shoulders slumped as I dug out the worst of it and worked the dough into a loaf.  I took the lumpy thing to my moms.  She once again came to my rescue and said she would make another loaf of bread.  Just in case!

My oven is toast.  Joel removed the burner and there is hole in it.  We are hoping we can get a part to replace it.  So today I will be bringing 2 pans of unbaked cinnamon rolls to a party. Thankfully the hostess has offered her oven to finish up the job.

As for the birthday dinner, I will be able to use my slow cooker and stove top to finish up the meal.  And my mom, who I believe deserves sainthood, will be bringing the rest!

Oh, and by the way, my boys loved the cake.  My sweet guinea pigs ate huge pieces of it last night and declared it scrumptious, even if it was a bit ugly.