In A Pinch . . .

. .  .  of the baking sort.

Before I start a recipe, I'll usually scan to see that I have all the major ingredients on hand.  But, when it comes to the usual ingredients such as baking soda and baking powder, I pretty much assume that they will be there in the cupboard when I need them.  Lately, though, my cupboards have been getting somewhat bare on the essentials; I do this on purpose to clean out a bit before summer vacation, but it has the effect of forcing myself to improvise in a pinch.  My hubby and I enjoy watching various cooking competition shows together and the contestants usually have wonderful ingredients at their fingertips and a variety of items that are practically impossible for the average person to keep in stock in their own pantry at all times.  Despite this, the art of improvisation is still necessary because inevitably, a team member will forget to buy something at the grocery store for them, time will be close to running out, or their idea will be about to fall through. 

Well, this morning, I had to improvise, as well, and quickly, because I was making the girls muffins for breakfast before they left for school.  First of all, I didn't have 3 bananas; I only had 2.   So, I substituted a ripe pear for 1 of the bananas which worked just fine (I've also used applesauce in this situation or pumpkin puree when coming up short on the banana count).  Next, though, I realized that I was all out of baking soda, the key leavening agent in my muffins, and I had only about 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda left in the cupboard.  So, of course, I got immediately googled about this problem to see if there was a quick fix.  Here was a handy baking soda and baking powder substitution article I found. 
http://chemistry.about.com/od/foodchemistryfaqs/f/powdersoda.htm 
 As I didn't really have as much baking powder as I needed to make the muffins rise properly, though, at the last minute I threw in an extra egg white (there is already 1 egg in the recipe) to try and fluff up the muffins some, too.  Thankfully, my banana chocolate chip muffins turned out really well and I don't think the family would have even known the difference had I not mentioned it; as it was, the girls ate them up in record time and still got off to school in the nick of time.