Secrets

Can you keep a secret? Can you keep two??

If you continue reading, it means you are sworn to secrecy. You cannot tell anyone. Not my parents, my sisters (they may be reading anyways)...not even your significant other. If you were held at knife-point and asked about the things I'm about to share, you would have to choose death.




Ok...I'm trusting you...




Secret #1: I biked 20.1 kilometers today.

Why the secret? My mom was uncomfortable with the idea of me biking from Bridgewater to Lunenburg so she actually doesn't know I did this. One day she might, but for the time being I would rather she not worry.

I didn't outright lie when she asked about my method of transportation...I just answered very indirectly. Fine...I lied. I am a horrible daughter.

The bike ride itself was a good combination of paved road/gravel and rolling hills. Overall, I was doing fine until I saw this:

Yes, I had to stop and say a quick prayer (and take a picture) before continuing. Surprisingly, once I was on my way up the hill it wasn't as bad as it looked.

The rest of the ride was fairly scenic. I snapped this picture when I was almost at the hospital. Unfortunately, it is a bad picture...and you can barely see the cows. I apologize...I was afraid of being late on my first day!

Are you ready for the next secret?

Secret #2: I had a baking disaster today.

I used to love baking. And I still do! However, ever since coming back from Benin, I have had one baking mishap after another. It's as if my baking powers were stolen. Or perhaps God is punishing me for my deceit.

Today I tried making blueberry banana bread muffins from the blog How Sweet It Is. I am sure these muffins are delicious. I truly believe this. I was just stupid.

Problem #1: forgot to mash frozen bananas prior to adding to batter. Had to put bowl over stovetop to warm bananas enough to mash. Meanwhile, the egg added earlier started to cook.

Problem #2: I substituted baking powder for baking soda. Whether this actually made a difference, I don't know.

Problem #3: This is the biggie...I substituted buckwheat flour for whole wheat. I know...stupid!! I've never used buckwheat flour in my life and figured "hey, what difference could it make?" Ohhhhhh...let me tell you the difference - my muffins didn't bake, had a dry, spongy/crumbly texture, and were bland as anything.

See? Ugly muffins.

I like to think I have a strong stomach...I generally can eat most things...even to be polite. But these were BAD. Like...could hardly swallow one BAD. Like...I tried picking out the blueberries and eating them (because wasted blueberries make me sad) and even they were sapped of their delicious flavour and replaced with bland buckwheat.

Please, someone enlighten me...what is the use of buckwheat flour?

I am hoping that this will put an end to my bad baking streak. Because it quite literally can't get any worse than this. But don't worry, I am not discouraged from baking. Just discouraged from deviating from original recipes :)