Patience of a spider

[Thirtieschild]

I'm terrified of spiders, too terrified to try to rescue one. An hour or so ago I was making Mr. D a German chocolate cake for his 70th birthday, when a spider dropped down onto the counter. Afraid to rescue it but not wanting to kill it (and usually too afraid of spiders to get close enough to kill one), I covered it with a glass, knowing that when Mr. D gets home he'll take it outside. I watched the spider study the situation, circumnavigate the glass, climb up a ways and then back down, where he/she is waiting. Think - make that know - I could learn something about patience from him/her.

The cake, btw, is in the oven. Hope it's okay - I'm not sure I'll ever master high altitude cooking. Gave up on angel food cakes when we had to throw the last one away - too tough to eat.

Edited for typos

[Droopy]

1. German chocolate cake- one of my favorites!

I'm afraid of spiders, too, and any bug of any size. I actually have more affinity for snakes than I do insects. I know it's irrational and it can probably be traced back to a spider getting in my crib when I was a baby.

[Thirtieschild]

2. Agreed. More afraid of spiders than snakes.

When I was 12 some boys approached a group of girls with a snake. The other girls screamed and ran. I took the snake, figuring if it didn't hurt them it wouldn't hurt me. An older boy, probably 15, told me I'd never get a boyfriend until I learned to pretend to be afraid of the snake. (Never did learn - still can't pretend.) Don't know what the rules are now but that's the way it was back in the dark ages, ca 1947.

The cake just came out of the oven; first one out of the pan fell apart, a real mess but gave me a chance to taste it. Hmmmm. Now if I can just figure out how to save the other two.

[DarkTirade]

5. The only guys worth dating are the ones who think it's cool that you're not afraid of snakes. :)

[Kali]

3. what is your altitude?

Usually a tablespoon or two more flour will help. Of course good plastering skills with icing can help too. :rofl:

I'm at 4500 ft so on the edge of needing to do much - sometimes I adjust other times I jus ttake what comes.

[Thirtieschild]

4. Altitude 6685

I use exactly the same recipe for bread I used at 900 altitude. For everything else I reduce soda and/or baking powder by 1/4 and it usually works. The German chocolate cake is a total mess, looks like a major earthquake. I basically stuck it together with the icing and it's pretty much shaped like a pyramid, taller than any cake cover I have. Don't think I can blame the altitude on this one, but I never had a failure like this at 900 feet either. I'm never going to try another angel food cake - so much trouble and it didn't work when I followed internet instructions about altitude and egg whites. Or thought I followed them.