Why can’t I cook!

Oh I am with you! Between the recipe and the finished article some magic or disaster happens…..and the mess in the kitchen….omg. Pop to the shop!

I know how you feel.
I can cook, I love making meals and researching recipe ideas but baking is another matter.
I haven't attempted a Christmas cake since the children were little.
This afternoon I intend making mince pies. Watch this space!

I tried making mince pies once- never again. I don’t eat them, and DH said his mother’s could not be beaten.

I would only bake for DH if I wanted a divorce. Herr Lidl made my Christmas cake, Mr Morrison made DH's birthday cake (also 25th Dec), Mr Sainsbury made the mince pies, Mr Walls made the ice cream and Mr Iceland made the cheese cake and other creamy thing in the freezer.

I can bake, and I understand the science of it enough to correct most of my mistakes, and to tweak recipes successfully. But (massive but) I cannot cook without following a recipe to the letter, and I can’t improvise or understand why something isn’t working to save my life.

i cook best what i enjoy eating. Casseroles and stews, no problem. Pastry and cakes, forget it. I do not have a sweet tooth and do ntocare for them.

In addtion I have dyspraxia, which means poor fine motore control, so you can forget any kind of icing or decorating.

I tried following a recipe for self saucing lemon pud in slow cooker.
My instincts told me it wouldn’t work and it didn’t

I have issues with bread, and have never really had a successful bake with yeast. I've no idea why, since I follow directions.

Other than that I'm a pretty good cook/baker, if a little impatient.

Gwyllt

I tried following a recipe for self saucing lemon pud in slow cooker.
My instincts told me it wouldn’t work and it didn’t

🤣🤣🤣

Don't put yourself through it Nandalot plenty of good cake in the shop. Use the lemons in your G &T while doing something you really enjoy. Life is too short.

Take heart !

I've been told that I'm an excellent and imaginative cook , but you could tile the roof with my biscuits !
I have an American friend and her main dishes aren't great . She relies on take aways . Her family live on them .
But her cookies are to die for !

Dear Nandalot I have made lemon bars and, inspite of having spent several years baking for a living, I have found them very tricky. It took me several attempts to get something that looked like the pictures. The secret with baking is to treat it like a chemistry experiment. Be exact with the measurements and the cooking times and temperatures. My MiL was a dreadful cook but did make a super Christmas cake (I still use her recipe) It was actually very easy to do because you just have to stir the ingredients together and pour them into the baking tin.

But you can cook, just not necessarily with the same result as the glossy picture in the book. My family are trained to eat with their eyes closed as my offerings usually taste OK but look 'a little rustic' shall we say being charitable as it's Christmas?

The older I get, the worse I seem to be at baking.

M&S sell Christmas cakes 🙂
Tesco Finest mince pies are very good too!

Very proud to say I have not cooked a single thing in 17 years! I have never ever cooked a Christmas dinner or baked a cake. I only bought a cooker because there was a gap in the kitchen but I never bothered to get it connected and now I store wine in.

Thank you Oasthouse, your message made me laugh out loud.

I can and do cook most things except I cannot boil and egg disaster everytime. DH can boil an egg but nothing else despite trying.