Baking Blunder

So I am really not much of a baker. I don't like to follow directions too much. Most of the time I just find what is in my kitchen and make something out of it. There are very few things that I have made the same way twice. I hardly ever cook the same meal twice unless it really really rocks. And even if I do make it twice over I usually change up the ingredients a little bit just for fun. I think that that is the fun part of cooking. There is always something new to be learned. Someone once told me that there are too many wonderful books in the world to ever read a book that you know will be crummy. TIme is better spent reading the good book because there are so many of them and so many good things to learn. I think the same thing about food. Life is too short to eat a cold hot dog or a frozen burrito every night. Now don't get me wrong, they totally have their place in life but if you ask me, try something new!

That is a round about way of saying that I am not really a baker. I have not found too many ways to be creative with baking. There is no way for me to tell how something is going to turn out when I put it in the oven. It is an act of faith when I put the cake in the oven. The batter may taste amazing but that does not determine how it is going to rise or cook or anything! Baking is too strict and unpredictable for me. However, every once in a while I try it. I signed up to make pumpkin bread for a baby shower soon. I remember making some amazing pumpkin bread when I was ten years old so I thought that I would go for it. I went out to the store and bought myself some canned pumpkin. Brought it home and opened the computer to find a recipe. Since I don;t bake very much I don't keep a lot of baking items at home. So as i was searching for a recipe I had two criteria. Number 1: It had to look yummy. That was a must Number 2: I had to have in my home all of the ingredients to make the bread. Ok so maybe I decided that I had to have all of the ingredients except for one or two. Who would keep baking powder AND baking soda in their cup board? What is the difference anyway? Oh well. I found a recipe that looked amazing. Not to mention I had all of the ingredients except for nutmeg and baking powder. I decided to substitute nutmeg for vanilla and to double the baking soda since I did not have baking powder. I made large muffins instead of bread and here is what came out.
The Batter looked amazing. It was a lovely orange color.

Here is the final product.........

So lovely. the texture was amazing. I tasted them while they were hot. I put a little butter on them and they tasted fine. That same evening my In-Laws came over for coffee and desert. I was proud to display my wonderful muffins. That was until I took a bite. Everyone was so kind and no one said anything about how they tasted.  Salty, not even sweet. Salty. I still don't know what I did wrong, perhaps it was doubling the baking soda and using ground rock salt instead of regular salt. Who knows. Whatever.

I am still looking for a scrumptious recipe for pumpkin bread. If anyone has any please let me know. I want something super sweet and moist and dense. Still looking.

P.S. the kitchen aid stand mixer is my birthday present from my wonderful husband. He knew that I wanted one so he got me a green one for my birthday. And in my favorite color too! What a guy. i love him so much. Here is another look at it.