Nothin says lovin like my jacked up oven.

You know how some people say they can't keep plants alive, and claim to have a "black thumb" or "brown thumb?" Is there a correlate of that for baking? Because that's what I have. Tonight I had to make a cake for work. I was making a cake-mix cake, because it is easier but mostly because the girl had specifically asked for the Funfetti type of cake. So I mixed all the crap together and put it in the oven; the box said 350 degrees (which I did) for 32-36 minutes for a 13x9 pan. So I set the timer for 30 minutes, just to be safe.

At 20 minutes into baking, I just happened to go into the kitchen and peek at the cake. The thing was totally golden brown and when I opened the oven I even got the faintest whiff of the beginning of that burnt smell. So I pulled it out of the oven, and dudes, that bitch was done. DONE BAKING. The middle was slightly iffy, but the edges were browning, firm, and pulling away from the edge of the pan. The cake sprung back when touched lightly. I don't know what to say. It was insanely early for it to be done. I don't know if our oven temp is messed up (I have never had any other problem with it), or...who knows. I know that I did not do anything wrong, I checked a million times. And yeah, thank god I happened to check it when I did or it would have gotten totally crispy, but it still stresses me out that it might be gooey or gross or something when people go to eat it tomorrow.

Stuff like this happens to me all the time when baking. And I mean, if you can't make a cake mix cake, you should really just quit with the baking. Because that shit is easy, and they test it a million billion times. So, I don't know. It seems like I have finally found one thing that I really enjoy/am interested in, and I have some stupid jinx or something that keeps me from being able to do it at a level above, like, a four-year-old. If I make one more cake that comes out burned, or hard as a rock, or still raw in the middle, or flat as a pancake, I think I will finally snap. Pillsbury can pretty much suck it, is what I have to say. God.

I did make a tasty icing though. I'm good at icing.