My first flan

No, not the first time I've tasted it, but the first time I've tried to make it. I'd give myself a B or B+, depending on how much you want to take off for the caramelized sugar. The custard part was easy, of course, and turned out just right.

I'd never tried to caramelize sugar and the directions in my Joy of Cooking apparently weren't quite specific enough because it never did turn brown. When I finally gave up and poured it into the casserole dish, it hardened almost immediately; I barely had a chance to spread it around the bottom, and none on the sides. L, who works in food service and is an excellent cook, later told me that I had cooked it too long. He also reassured me that caramelizing sugar is a tricky process. I told him that next time I try this, I'll make him come over and talk me through it.

I had made flan for last night's Godspell cast party because it was a reference to a sanctioned ad lib in the show, and because L, for all his cooking experience, hadn't realized it was actual food and not just a made-up word. While the caramelized sugar didn't turn out, that was largely a cosmetic problem; as I noted above, the custard part turned out just fine. And it was a bigger success than the snickerdoodles I'd made for opening night, also because someone thought "snickerdoodles" was just a made-up word. The recipe was one of those that calls for multiple leavening agents, so I'd pulled them all out of the cabinet - cream of tartar, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Unfortunately, it was only after I'd measured in the baking powder that I realized I was supposed to have used baking soda. It didn't affect the taste much, but the cookies didn't rise as well as they should have. L made some a few nights later that turned out much better; not only did he use the right ingredients, but he substituted shortening for butter so they didn't spread as much but were nice and thick and chewy.