Kitchen F#!% Ups

I convinced my friend Cheryl to take a cooking class with me. I can't shape a round roll to save my life. Sadly the class didn't teach round rolls. We made cloverleafs and fans. Not only do they look horrible, didn't taste good either.

I threw my take-home rolls in the compost pile. Don't tell the teacher.

I make Spiced Pumpkin Bread for Gary every year. His birthday is right around Thanksgiving and we usually go camping. He loves it for breakfast, and I have to admit, it's pretty good for something pumpkin-flavored. I guess it's the spices because they're so fragrant and seasonal.

This year, I was having a hard time finding time to make it. I had just gotten back into town from Las Vegas, had all the typical chores to do (laundry, etc) and needed to be ready to leave for west Texas, so we could hike and then spend the holiday with Gary's family. I decided to squeeze some baking in between other tasks, so that Gary could have his requisite Pumpkin Bread.

I peeked into the oven about 3/4 the way, and it sure hadn't risen much. At the appointed time, I tested it with a toothpick. It came out clean, so I took the pan out of the oven. For a 9" loaf pan, the bread was only about an inch and a half high.

I reread the recipe (which I've made a dozen times) and retraced my steps. I never added the baking powder.

I made up a batch of brown rice for Multigrain Bread Extraordinaire. That's right, I'm making bread at home. I'm an experienced cook. So I'll just make up this brown rice. 40 minutes later.. what's that burning smell? Oh, it's my brown rice. Which now looks like wild rice, and has made lovely little burnt rice marks all over my beautiful All Clad Pan. That was fun to clean. And I had to make a new batch of rice.

• Multigrain Bread Extraordinaire (The Bread Baker's Apprentice, p. 187)