Polls Closed: Mr. Trashcan Wins!

What is the difference between the rock and the cookie?
Absolutely nothing.

I'm awake because I'm afraid to sleep.

I'm afraid the nightmare of my baking night might come back in my real nightmares!

Oh, the horror.

I tried to make the 1-2-3-4 Cake (Martha Stewart) for the Lemon Meringue Cake...and when that crashed and burned, I tried to salvage the night with a batch of Chocolate Chip Cookies (Alton Brown).

What the heck? The cake looks like Humpty Dumpty sat on my cake. Most cakes dome on the top...this one had other plans.

Then I leveled out the concave creation...and tasted the cake. Total disaster. Tasted like salty-baking soda. The recipe calls for both baking powder and baking soda (and no, I did not switch the measurements). Hello, Mr. Trashcan!

Next, I tried to try a new chocolate chip recipe (Alton Brown's Chocolate Chip Cookies #10). I don't know what went wrong. The recipe calls for melted butter. Later, I read in Cooks Illustrated that using melted butter in cookies might lead to hard cookies...man, they aren't like the crazy pollsters for the New Hampshire primary election tonight, they were right!
Hard as rocks!

Yes, just one more disaster! While the cake was baking, I tried to make the lemon curd that would fill the cake...but I messed up by trying a new recipe, but using the technique of an old recipe. Basically, I used a double boiler and stirred the mixture, instead of whisking continuously. The curd tasted good, but never thickened up. Anyway, I thought this photo of my egg yolk flower was neat.

But I haven't given up! Tomorrow, I'll be picking up some cookbooks at the library and will keep plugging along! :)