I wish they sold all the amazing mixes for cakes/pancakes/bread you can buy in any store in the U.S. here but they don't. I bake every single thing from scratch. Some core ingredients (like baking soda and save for very few stores, shortening) are not for sale either, which means editing recipes and trial and error.

You either aren't letting your bread rise long enough (it should double in size) or you are killing your yeast so it isn't rising. When you mix the yeast in water, (usual first step), make sure the water is exactly body temperature. You do this by testing the water against the inside of your wrist. It should feel like NO temperature.. not hot, not cold, just the same exact temperature. This is the same way you test baby formula. Inside of the wrist.

I don't know how you screw up pancakes.

I love to bake :) My fruit pie recipes all call for flour, not pectin. I'll be making strawberry rhubarb pies on Sunday.. a Mother's Day tradition in my family.

I can't really cook very well, but I can bake like a queen, haha. I think it's because baking is a little bit more 'science-y' and is more exact than cooking...I haven't mastered the whole rare-medium-well done concept yet.

I get all of my cookie recipes from the straight-out-of-the-70s "Cooky Book" by Betty Crocker. My mom wasn't much of a baker so when I discovered my talent, it became mine. Best cookies ever.

Pancakes? Honestly, the bisquick recipe. Add in whatever you want into the batter (blueberries, choco chips, etc) and it's the best thing I can find. I also use bisquick for scones...

I haven't started really baking much yet, but I've done 5-Chocolate Brownies (the original recipe-giver called them The Brownies That Will Cure Anything), chocolate-chip cookies, and peanut butter blossoms (pb cookies with Hershey kisses on top for those who don't know). I hope to help more with baking this Christmas (we don't bake a lot in the summer, because it's too warm).

Advice varies depending on what goes wrong. DubaiSis gives excellent advice if that is your problem.

WHAT? You don't have baking soda? How is that possible? That's crazy-mind blowing to me. We use it for SOOOO many things, not just baking.

^^ I just saw that. Can I mail you some?

They undoubtedly have baking soda, although they may call it something else. Go to the drug store and ask for bicarbonate of soda. And I'm not a fan of shortening under any circumstances. Lard will give you better results. And believe it or not, lard has more "good fats" than a lot of oils you are probably buying now because of their benefits. Sugar cookies made from lard will blow any crisco variety out of the water any day.

I know! I used to use it on a weekly basis back in the US but now I always have to find ways to get around it. We have baking powder here, so with a little experimentation most recipes turn out okay. But for all the other things.. nothing compares. Something else to stock up on when I'm in the US again. (that and cajun spice mix, good barbecue sauce, chipotle, Jello and twizzlers)
Thank god they introduced Oreos here two years ago.

They have bicarbonate of soda in stomach tablets but they have some extra ingredients in them (believe me, I checked). Otherwise it's not readily available, only in the crazy expensive expat stores in Amsterdam.

Lard? Ooh, I have to try that! You just get your lard at the butcher?

Just what I was thinking. I will send you some! Twizzlers too. ;)

You can ask the butcher, but in American grocery stores it's usually on the shelf in the Mexican foods section. I'm surprised at your limited offerings. It sounds like Dubai 5 or 6 years ago. By the time I left, there wasn't much I couldn't find at my regular grocery store, along with a variety of vegetables and fish you'd NEVER see in an American grocery store.
The things I couldn't get that I had to stock up on- Lawry's Seasoning Salt, Magic Erasers, Gaviscon Extra Strength, Melatonin, Progesterone cream.

If I had to guess. the pan is either too hot or not hot enough. There's a sweet spot in there where the temperature is just right.

Also, try separating your eggs. Mix the yolks with the other ingredients, then beat the whites and fold them in. It makes the pancakes wonderfully light. (Thanks "Worst Cook in America.")

As for pie filing, I know that Lynn Rossetto Kasper had some advice about that on "The Splendid Table" recently. I'll see if I can find that podcast.

Tulip86, you have GC baking friends who'd be happy to send you care packages! What do you need from the southwest? :D

I am an awesome baker. It's fascinating because I don't particularly enjoying cooking, although I love to watch the Food Network channel. Mostly because of the personalities (especially Paula Deen and Sandra Lee, but everyone else makes me laugh, and I love the Pioneer Woman).

True confession: my guilty pleasure is cookie cookbooks, and any cookbook that has to do with baking. I love the King Arthur Flour website.

The worst part of living in the desert? Not a lot of baking in the summer. Don't want to heat up the house.

Thanks for the offer, that's incredibly sweet!

Shipping is very steep though, even for the smallest of packages. Fortunately I won't have to go without them very long because it looks like I'm coming back for a few weeks in the fall!