A Blog is Born

Welcome to Life is "Uncertain. Eat Dessert First" my musings and reflections on the sweetest things in life.  I've been in lifelong love affair with dessert.  It is by far the most anticipated portion of my meal.  And though I can't always have the elaborate and decadent confections that I desire, I have made it my mission in life to try to create all-natural treats that even the most challenged cook can create in the kitchen.  Along the way, I will share some of my own challenges, starting with a kitchen.

I can't tell you how many times I've heard people say they can't cook or bake the way they'd like because they don't have space in their kitchen, or they don't have the latest thing-a-majig that makes the perfect cakepop.  The truth is, if you have an oven, thermometer, bowl, spoon and pan you can bake!  It may look a little different than it does in the book, but that's where your creativity can come in.
My friends from college will tell you how they would gather in the dorm lounge late at night to await the brownies coming out of the oven.  Brownies I baked in a pot (an once with pot).  Or, they'll tell you about staying up three straight days to fill orders for homemade chocolate candies we sold for Valentines Day.  Candies we made in our barebones kitchen.

Fast forward some years, and my kitchen has (unfortunately) not changed much.  Although a large 14x14 space, I have but 2.5 feet of counter space. Clearly a cook, or anyone with common sense, did not design this kitchen! The oven is right next to the back door and under the air conditioning vent.  It's a challenge that makes keeping a steady oven temp a challenge, though it's great for cooling baked goods.  I remedied the problem by opting for a counter-height table.  Recently I added 8 feet more of counterspace by sawing my free-standing bookshelves in half and arranging them side by side (see below).

Although you can use your stovetop, having counter or tabletop space will make your life easier. That way you can measure out all of your ingredients before you start so you don't skip anything (like baking powder) and you also have room for your goodies to cool. The more elaborate your dessert, the more space you'll want, so clear off the kitchen table or set up some tray tables if you need to.  

The next important tool you need is an in-oven thermometer.  They cost about $5 for a basic magnetic dial that you can stick on the inside of your oven.  Here's a secret, you can muck around with the ingredients, but nothing, but nothing can ruin a dessert better than an oven that is too high, or too low.  Even new ovens can have temperature variances so a thermometer is a good investment.

Finally, you'll need some dry measuring cups and a liquid measuring cup (yes there is a difference) and some measuring spoons.  All of these you can find at your local dollar store.

Now that we've got the basics, let's head out on our gustatory adventure.