Two Teaspoons of Baking Soda Makes All the Difference!

Don't you just hate it when you spend time on a recipe and it flops because of one stupid mistake?!

So, a couple days ago I cooked a small sugar pumpkin.  After cleaning the insides out and taking the peeling off, I had invested at least a good half hour in preparation.  Then, this morning, I mashed the pumpkin and made a large batch of pumpkin muffins.  I had just made the same recipe last Saturday, so I knew this was a yummy one!  The muffin baking extravaganza took around an hour (with cleanup).  They just didn't turn out as good as last week.  They were extremely solid and lacking some flavor.  Upon scanning the recipe one more time, I realized I had left the baking soda out which would've given the bread the "lift" it was lacking, as well as the extra salt it needed for flavor!  I was so bummed.  Here, I had many good ingredients and time packed into this bread that SHOULD be delicious, but was rather disappointing. 

I whipped up some cream cheese frosting to dress it up a bit, but you just can't make a flop into a blue-ribbon quality item.

Later, I pulled a cake out of the oven, which I had also baked since the oven was on and company is coming later today.  The cake turned out very good.  I said to Kevin, "It's amazing how just using the right ingredients makes for success!" 

I'm sure we can apply this illustration to life, right?  There would be all kinds of ideas to use with these concepts, but the one that seems best for me right now, goes something like this:

Sometimes I try to dress up my day with some "cream cheese frosting" by skipping a main ingredient (i.e., time with my Father--main ingredient--exchanged for listening to some encouraging music--the cream cheese frosting).  Or sometimes I might think if I just follow the rules set before me, I don't have to work on the heart issues.  Get the idea?  So, don't forget the baking soda!