Who's a gal got to kiss around here to get a little SUCCESS?!

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Yes, technically this is a spoiler: I did finally succeed.  But it's the journey, not the destination, that matters.

Yeesh, this week has been rough.  I planned on making caramels for the boyfriend's families, and you all know how that went down.  Then I decided on toffee, which I was promised could be "super easy," and lemon bars, which I've made a few times and had few problems with (jest you wait, 'enry 'iggins).  Now it's the day before my birthday, and we're leaving for the States in 3 days, and today was my last chance to get the gifts to the bf's dad, so things have been escalating for a while.  And the end result is that I'm exhausted, so I'll let the photos and captions speak for themselves.

It's a long-un, so just jump to continue.

A little substitution... and bibbity boppity boo!

Pin It Baking over here can be trying. Not only are the conversions a bitch (my recipes now have temps in both Fahrenheit and Celsius, and ingredients in cups and grams), and the ovens electric and therefore highly varied, but there's also the matter of being a poor student.

Point the first: poor. Meaning I don't have the money for such indulgences as a Kitchenaid mixer, or even a Cuisinart like my mom has at home (Hi Cuisinart, baby, I miss you!), or even such small luxuries as different sizes of pan/sheet/dish in which to bake.

Point the second: student. Which not only reiterates the poverty, but also means I'm here for a limited time, which makes any investment I could feasibly make seem like a stupid waste of money, since I can take very little back with me across the Atlantic.

So why do I keep trying? Because baking makes me happy.

Snickerdoodles in our new flat

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We moved into our new flat over 6 weeks ago, but the new, working replacement for our broken oven only arrived last week. So I'm sure you can imagine how much I'd been dying to bake, and the fact that I was denied only made me fantasize harder about tarts and pies and cookies and cakes.

So when the new oven was installed, I immediately started thinking about what would be my christening baked good. I settled on Snickerdoodles, because the cookies here all seem a little too sweet for my taste, and i just wanted something cinnamon-y and soft and subtle, without chocolate (I know, blasphemy).