Things I really should know

-the Shrewsbery Cakes I made last weekend didn't come out as planned. Given that I hadn't made them in 15 years and wasn't using my recipe, I really should have test-baked beforehand. They spread (didn't work in enough flour) and overbaked, although thankfully not to the burned stage. It was just shy of that: they were caramel-y and quite crispy, which tasted good in its own right but wasn't what I was going for.

-my starter needs to be treated like a rosebush. That is, I need to cruelly prune it. Before using, I need to keep it out on the counter (or right now, in the oven with the light on), dumping half and feeding it every day for four or five days before using. If I do that, it will be happy rather than sluggish.