Cookie8, I almost always end up rewriting recipes, so I can make them in the order I need to. (Starting with preheat the oven to...) The way some recipes are written, reading ahead is necessary, although not always an option. I find it makes the instructions much longer, which makes the recipe look more intimidating. The truth is, if I can follow it easily to the letter, I find my results are more successful. Sometimes, I'll rewrite a recipe several times before it's where I need it to be. You didn't really ask, but I always get out every ingredient, bowl, spatula measuring cup/spoons and mixer that I'm going to need before I even start. I measure it all, and set everything on a tray, so all I have to do is mix everything together. (If a recipe has multiple parts, I set up different trays.) That way, when you read through the recipe, it's all set up and easy to ''check off'' while you're baking. I hope you try again. Determination is a fine quality to possess! I have an easy one bowl chocolate cake recipe, if you need something to go to, that's tasty, easy and worthy of a birthday cake. I usually make it with a Cinnamon Buttercream Icing, and get requests for it often. Just let me know if you'd like the recipe. Deanna, I always use the recipe on the back of a bar of Bakers Sweet German Chocolate. It's no secret, but rather more time consuming to make as a cake, than anything else. It's our favorite as the buttermilk always makes it so moist, and it's a cake that only gets better with time. We always make it the day before, so the flavors have time to meld. It's also fun to anticipate eating it, when it looks so good sitting under a glass cake cover.

Interesting

What a nice neighbor you are..we should all try being as kind everyday as you are!! I love the website you provided, although I do not have a heart, I have a big doxie dog, cat, santa and bell. Any of these would be great as they are bigger than normal cookie cutters and I am sure the birds would not mind "eating the cat". LOL!!!

Grainlady told us about that--the oil is in the parts that are removed to make white flour, and it goes rancid pretty quickly. That's one reason for milling it fresh. When I remodelled I had to through out a bunch of flour and work on quadruple cleaning the canisters to get the rancid smell out. My theory is also that all those whole wheat breads that have honey or other sugars in them are trying to cover up slightly rancid flour. When I mill wheat, inc. hard red, the flour tastes sweet and the bran, etc., just tastes a bit earthy. I think the company stopped making whole wheat panko! Maybe because of the quality issues Sleevendog mentioned. I loved it. Even my picky eater, who won't touch whole wheat bread, liked the chicken fried with WW panko. Mine was perfect. Neither soggy nor sour.