Goodwill Baking

Wouldn't that have been an interesting movie?  An uneducated janitor who can bake anything?  OK, maybe not so much....  But that is my method for acquiring implements of baking.  Last week, I found three things that I had wanted for some time, but hadn't wanted to spend retail money on.  Each item was $3.49.   Talk about successful Goodwill Hunting!

I'd wanted a better solution for cooking pie shells that wouldn't allow them to shrink or rise at all. I had been using a large rock in a second pan, placed over the first.  My blind baking attempts were not that consistent, often resulting in shrunken sides.  Imagine my delight to find a pie making set that had a pan to specifically meet my crust needs!  I'd also tried out a mini pie baker a while back that was on loan. I wasn't that successful -- but I think it was because I didn't have as much time to mess with it.  I've now got all the time in the world as the small appliance I found is mine for keeps.  It makes slightly larger pies than the one I'd tried years before.  Finally, I wanted to expand my baking tube collection.  The glass bread baking version I found at GW a few years back has worked really well.  I was thrilled to find a set I can use to create round, heart, and star shaped cakes.

The best part of all this, is that two out of three of my purchases were never used, still having the original packaging intact.  At retail, this haul would have set me back over $50.   An amount I am not willing to spend on items I'm not sure will work out.  So, once the weather cools down and I have the inclination to use my oven more, I'll be posting the results of my cheap kitchen purchases.  Stay tuned...