It's a Giada disaster!

Well, it was bound to happen eventually. Truthfully though, it's actually two strikes in a row. The update from Tuesday's dinner is that the rest of the Giada chickens were undercooked. Thankfully I didn't kill Jim because he noticed and didn't eat the raw boobage. Today he grilled them until they were done. The marinade caused them to get super black on the outside, but the insides seemed to be moist and more importantly, cooked. Jim said it was probably due to the chickies still being partially frozen. It does make sense, since I've never undercooked chicken breasts when roasting them.

Anyway, today's disaster was with the chocolate cake I attempted to make. I got home late due to my student T's piano festival in Angwin (the middle of NOWHERE), so I was already behind the count before I had even started. The cake started with boxed cake mix, which was very odd for me to make. I haven't made an instant cake since I took cake decorating classes. I felt like a total cheater, but that's what Giada did. To make myself feel better, I buttered and floured the cake pans instead of using Pam.

While they baked, I attempted to make the hazelnut brittle, which is where the trouble began. First came the toasting of the hazelnuts themselves. Giada's second book called for toasting them either in the oven or on the stovetop (the method I chose). She said it was going to take 5 minutes. I toasted them for a little longer, just to be on the safe side. Toasting them was supposed to make the skins fall off when I rubbed them briskly. I tried and failed. So I re-toasted them. The skins still stayed on. I should mention that while this was happening, I made the brittle part--sugar and water boiled together until it turned light brown. So yes, time was a bit of the essence. But the hazelnuts were just not cooperating. Not only were the skins not falling off, but I kept losing them in the sink, on the floor, on the countertop . . . I was so upset I screamed.

I enlisted Jim's help in peeling the horrible things. The two of us finally managed to more or less peel them after about 30 minutes. Jim was late for work. I was late for my piano lesson. And because it took so long, my sugar syrup was ruined. I attempted to pour it over the brittle, but too much of it had cooked off. I'll have to try making another batch tomorrow.

Obviously I didn't even get to the cake assembly part. That's tomorrow. I'm assuming that the instant cake turned out, because if it didn't, I'll be so embarrassed. Speaking of embarrassing, my dog was diagnosed with diabetes today. I'm glad she'll be healthy again, but her condition is not one I'm going to advertise anytime in the near future. It makes me one of those crazy pet owners forking out tons of money for their pets.