EPIC FAIL
So, as promised, here is the "Pioneer Woman let me down in the worst way" post.
The setting: 2 nights before Christmas in our apartment (which at this point had reached a level of stuff strewn everywhere that makes me cringe to think about - presents, wrapping, bags, suitcases waiting to be packed, baking supplies, etc.)
The characters: a very sick me (when you're coughing and sneezing everywhere, that's usually the perfect time to make some homemade goodies that you're going to give away) and my faithful sidekick hubby
The plan: make some caramel apples (via PW), sugar cookies (via PW) and chocolate covered pretzel sticks
The promised results:
Because we were planning on giving these away, I followed both of her recipes to a T. Even the lemon peel in the sugar cookies.
The result: Let me just begin with the apples. Everything seemed to be going fine until about an hour after we had made them when my husband decided to try one of the extra apples.
It was rock hard. As in pounding it on the table sounded like an anvil was going to splinter our poor little Ikea table. He tried biting into it, barely left teeth marks. He tried microwaving it - nothing. Those apples looked exactly like the ones in the picture; however, she failed to mention that you have to eat them immediately because they will soon become nothing more than paperweights.
We were informed later that a few were edible but for the most part: EPIC FAIL.
The sugar cookies. To be fair, I hate sugar cookies. They're boring and bland to me and they're just not something I love. But after The Sugar Cookie Disaster of 2010, I had to try them again just to prove I could actually make sugar cookies.
They were flavorless and her cook time was way too long (unless they're supposed to be crispy and hard). My husband said they tasted like lemon cookies. I KNEW the lemon peel was a weird ingredient but I trusted PW and added it and the result was disastrous.
I've decided sugar cookies aren't my thing and I'm just going to stick to Chocolate Chip Cookies because I know and love those.
Lastly, the pretzel sticks. I didn't have a recipe for these - I just planned on winging it. And guess what? These turned out perfectly. They were ridiculously easy to make and it was so fun that each one could be decorated differently. I learned from my brother-in-law's mother to use a fork when drizzling chocolate and they actually looked like professional! Of course at this point we had rock-hard, caramel apples and tasteless, crispy sugar cookies AND it was 11 at night, so of course we were much too exhausted to take pictures. But nevertheless, they were a success and I was told that they were very much enjoyed by the recipients.
So there you have it... I am wary of trusting PW and next time I will follow my gut which says "don't put lemon peel in cookies".
The setting: 2 nights before Christmas in our apartment (which at this point had reached a level of stuff strewn everywhere that makes me cringe to think about - presents, wrapping, bags, suitcases waiting to be packed, baking supplies, etc.)
The characters: a very sick me (when you're coughing and sneezing everywhere, that's usually the perfect time to make some homemade goodies that you're going to give away) and my faithful sidekick hubby
The plan: make some caramel apples (via PW), sugar cookies (via PW) and chocolate covered pretzel sticks
The promised results:
Because we were planning on giving these away, I followed both of her recipes to a T. Even the lemon peel in the sugar cookies.
The result: Let me just begin with the apples. Everything seemed to be going fine until about an hour after we had made them when my husband decided to try one of the extra apples.
It was rock hard. As in pounding it on the table sounded like an anvil was going to splinter our poor little Ikea table. He tried biting into it, barely left teeth marks. He tried microwaving it - nothing. Those apples looked exactly like the ones in the picture; however, she failed to mention that you have to eat them immediately because they will soon become nothing more than paperweights.
We were informed later that a few were edible but for the most part: EPIC FAIL.
The sugar cookies. To be fair, I hate sugar cookies. They're boring and bland to me and they're just not something I love. But after The Sugar Cookie Disaster of 2010, I had to try them again just to prove I could actually make sugar cookies.
They were flavorless and her cook time was way too long (unless they're supposed to be crispy and hard). My husband said they tasted like lemon cookies. I KNEW the lemon peel was a weird ingredient but I trusted PW and added it and the result was disastrous.
I've decided sugar cookies aren't my thing and I'm just going to stick to Chocolate Chip Cookies because I know and love those.
Lastly, the pretzel sticks. I didn't have a recipe for these - I just planned on winging it. And guess what? These turned out perfectly. They were ridiculously easy to make and it was so fun that each one could be decorated differently. I learned from my brother-in-law's mother to use a fork when drizzling chocolate and they actually looked like professional! Of course at this point we had rock-hard, caramel apples and tasteless, crispy sugar cookies AND it was 11 at night, so of course we were much too exhausted to take pictures. But nevertheless, they were a success and I was told that they were very much enjoyed by the recipients.
So there you have it... I am wary of trusting PW and next time I will follow my gut which says "don't put lemon peel in cookies".
