Hot from the oven....

It's been almost a year since my last blog entry. I was kept busy doing things that I wouldn't normally do when I was young. When I was still working I never had the chance to cook at home, it's usually dine out or take out food for me. The first time I cooked for my family, I experimented with the recipe and it turned out really bad and no one liked it,I was told that I should not be cooking at all, after that humiliating experience, I never attempted to cook again. 

Fast forward, 20 years later, after watching countless Martha reruns shows and Sweet Dreams by Gale Gand, I suddenly developed an interest for cooking and baking.  I always wanted to have an oven for years and finally, I got it as an early Christmas gift.

my Ariston oven with griller

Since I have no formal training in baking other than watching people do it on TV,  I searched for baking 101 info I can get on the internet, watched a lot of  cooking shows from the Food Network  and I started going to the bookstore again (not to get school supplies this time)  looking for instructional and recipe books (I was wondering if there's any book like "Baking for Idiots"...hahaha...) I bought basic utensils for baking like measuring cups, spatula, pans (i didn't know that they come in different sizes and uses), rolling pins, etc.

butterscotch brownie in the oven

For my first try in baking, I wasn't really that confident to do my own mixing or even follow a  recipe,  so I got a store bought butterscotch brownie mix, wherein I only have to add egg and butter, that simple...wait, I forgot that I also do not know how to operate an oven, so while I was mixing the ingredients, I was also reading the oven manual, not an easy task.

I thought my first baking experience will be a disaster but it turned out just fine and yummy.

I added almonds slivers to the mix, it's chewy and moist