HELP - think I've lost my cooking karma - disasters as of late, what is wrong???

[music-city-missy]

So one of the first is the cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving. Same recipe I have used for probably 10 years - simple - oj concentrate, cranberries, sugar, orange zest, and cointreau. It kept tasting bitter so I kept adding more sugar but never stopped being bitter. DH even said it was a little too sweet. All I can think of is that it was the particular batch of cranberries and it was an unknown brand and not the Ocean Spray I have always used. Me or the cranberries? And tips for overcoming bitter if it ever happens again?

Then I was dying for the saltine toffee and made some last weekend. It didn't look like enough toffee so I tried making another batch without cleaning the pan and I just got a pan of butter on top of sugar that bordered on being burnt. Washed the pan and started over and it was fine. So I thought that was the problem - UNTIL Friday morning when I decided to make a batch last minute for the work potluck. First batch did the same thing - butter on sugar. Did a second batch - same thing. Gave up and took my shower but couldn't let go. Did another batch and it was fine. Since I added sugar to the melted butter I thought that was my problem but I remembered that is what I did for the first and third batches last weekend. What is the trick to getting it to work every time? I've never had problems with candies/sugar like this.

Finally, DH signed me up to bring tar pit wings to a party for his coworkers. The last time I made them they burned before the end of the cooking time. But I was not following the directions when it came to the cooking part - not really. And before that I was cooking until I thought they were done even though not the wonderful mahogany sticky gooeyness that I wanted.

This time I cooked them at 375 instead of 400, spread them onto 2 pans (1 1/2 batch) and I rotated the pans from the top and middle shelves turning them each time - every 30 minutes for a total of 1:30 vs the 1:45 to 2:00 the recipe calls for (and laid down between turns because I had such a bad headache) The ones that were on the top shelf twice were burnt (IMHO) and while the ones on the middle rack looked almost a little under the dark mahogany tar pit appearance that perfect ones are, they were a little burnt on the bottom side (I did turn them once). I was so upset I didn't want to even go to the party or take them but I made a batch of the sauce with extra sugar and reduced it to a glaze. DH & DD said they were okay as they were. I finally plated them dipping in the sauce as I went - but to me that was a little too salty. And I have always felt that the cooking time was too long and left an overcooked texture to the wings. What am I doing wrong?

With everything that has happened this year, I really haven't been around here much, haven't cooked much, and just hasn't felt terribly inspired. And this - well, I feel like I have just lost my cooking karma.

 

[richard-in-cincy]

Mel, sometimes $h|+ happens...

We've all been there. Sometimes it works, then it doesn't, and it is truly inexplicable. I have had massive failures on top of failures running on a string (and they always seem to happen in threes like celibrity deaths). There is no explaining it. You haven't lost your cooking mojo, you've just been visited by the big squatting bird of chaos who shat all over you. You will survive and conquer. Onward!

 

[music-city-missy]

Well, at least your key lime pie dip turned out good even though....

I made the base and stopped on the way to get the key lime juice (thought I had it). And I can't stop eating it - made a double batch and we had WAY too much food before people could get to the desserts and since we had run out of desserts at past events we seemed to over do it this time. We just over did everything, period. But it's definitely a keeper.

Next up is probably going to be the battle of the Zimtsterne! The look simple enough.

 

[richard-in-cincy]

key lime dip is wickedly good and those

zimtsterne battled us for years. the deal is to chill/freeze the dough before cutting. Then, it's a piece of cake. And they're also wickedly good.

 

[steve2-in-la]

Sounds like your stove is on the fritz and you got a bad batch of cranberries. Don't sweat it.

 

[barbara-in-va]

Missy, one time I had a particularly bad streak with baking and, like you, thought I had lost

my cooking karma. I was chatting with a afriend about it and she said it sounded like one of my heat elements was out in my oven. Well, I had had a gas oven always up until this point and I didn't know that heating elements have a life span. She was correct, the stars aligned and I could bake again! Any chance there is a problem with your oven elements?