High Altitude Baking

I L-O-V-E, LOVE to bake!!!! But there's a small problem...which could become a HUGE mess. I am finding myself dealing with the issue of recipes which now all have to be adjusted due to high altitude living.

 

Unfortunately, I forgot this little tidbit when making some Pumpkin & Cream Cheese Bread.

 

 

Can we say, "AGH!"?

 

Rounded mounds resembling footballs protruding from the center of my little loafs were completely unexpected. Still delicious, but not exactly the look I was going for.

 

Now, I should have remembered the story that my mother-in-law told me...

 

"When we first moved up here I made a carrot cake. I ended up cleaning it up for hours."

 

When I asked her why it took hours her response was, "It exploded in the oven!"

 

Great, exploding cakes...just what a lover of baking wants to hear.

 

Okay, so I make this move from sunny Southern California...Temecula (wine country) to be exact, which has an elevation of 1,175...and now have to do alterations to all of my recipes so I can enjoy baking again.

 

Let's just say that I was not too thrilled at that thought.

 

Read the recipe, add the ingredients called for, get it in the oven and have a beautiful final product. That's how I like to do it.

 

So I figured that I would list some simple quick alterations that have to be done in order to avoid some high altitude baking mishaps. (you know, just incase you decide to bake while you're in a high altitude location)

 

High Altitude Baking Conversions

1.) Decrease the following items to 1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon OR to 1/4 of the total amount called for: Baking Soda, Baking Powder, Cream of Tartar

 

2.) Decrease Sugar by 1 1/2 teaspoons per cup called for.

 

3.) Add 2 teaspoons of Flour to the amount called for.

 

4.) Increase liquids by 2 to 3 tablespoons per cup called for.

 

5.) DO NOT Change Temperature!


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Birthday Night Gone Awry

It's 10:00pm and I've just returned home from a night out with my Charming for his birthday. First dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant, Two Guys From Hong Kong, with the girls and my in-laws. Which was really perfect tonight and we had quite a spread to choose from…Honey Walnut Shrimp, Spicy Orange Chicken, Crispy Sesame Beef, Chicken Chow Mien and Fried Rice. Not to mention the pot stickers that Rose & Grace devoured. (that’s their highlight of eating Chinese food) If you are in Reno, you have got to go there...in the Whole Foods shopping center. After dinner, feeling completely stuffed, we leave the kiddles with Grandpa & Grandma and head off to the movies. As we make our way to the theater, snow begins to fall...lightly, then thick enough to look like a fog as we go down the road. By the time we get to the theater's parking lot, the flakes are about the size of dimes. Beautiful! But not a good thing when you don't have a hood or hat and are wearing flats, not boots or sneakers. And what did we decide to spend our evening watching you ask? Not some romantic comedy, not some ubber manly battle flick, nor a scare you up the walls thriller...nope. We chose to see The Tooth Fairy. Yep, you read that right. There are moments in the beginning where you wonder how long before it really gets going or you get going out the theater doors...but then the comedy starts to kick-in, the kids win you over and you just really want to see what Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is going to have to go through in tights. I think I love that man even more now that he was brave enough to wear tights for a second film. (the first time was in The Game Plan) Anyway, we enjoyed the movie and make our way to our car which is now dusted with snow that has iced itself onto the car. It's not even possible to brush it off with your hands...completely iced over. Get in, Charming finishes his call with my family for the birthday wishes, we start the car an make our way across the iced parking lot. Realize that the gas gauge is just above "E", so off to a gas station we go. Fill'er up and jump back into the car to head home..."whirrrrrrrrr" "whirrrrrr". Won't start. Give it a few minutes, try again....same thing. So there we are, sitting at the gas pump, windows are getting fogged and I start wondering when a cop is going to come up to the window asking what we're doing...and then I have one of my hysterical laughter bouts. You know, one of those laugh sessions where you can't even begin to catch your breath, can't get yourself composed, tears are running down your face and your head starts pounding. Typically these happen late at night, triggered by something that Charming says right before we fall asleep...and then the laughter begins and doesn't end for anywhere between 15-45 minutes. I can't explain it, my body must just really be in need of a serious laugh release. Things start coming out of my mouth like, "Watch a cop comes to the window 'Officer, he's making me cry!'" Charming suggests that we push the car over to a parking space right infront of us, "I can just see us pushing the car and we slip on the ice, landing on our faces and watch the car go rolling right thru the restaurant that's under construction"...uncontrollable laughter takes over once again. Poor Charming, he sometimes wonders what God was thinking making me this way...but he loves it. After waiting for about 40 minutes we finally give in and call Charming's dad to come tow us home. Finally, back to a nice warm home...to defrost my nose and toes. This was not how I planned our evening going...but it's something that I am still laughing about now. Wonder what will happen on my birthday?