I have always been a thrifty person...a bargain shopper...sure, some might call me stingy. But in general I like to try to spend as little money as possible. This was especially true when I was just out of college and didn’t really have much money anyways. You remember the days living off Ramen noodles or PB&Js! I was living with a nice couple who had taken me in and didn’t charge me any rent whatsoever. They were away for the weekend and I had a Friday night to myself. I decided I wanted to bake an angel food cake, which is one of my favorite desserts. When I went to the grocery store I discovered that an angel food pan costs around $15 so I decided to be wise and find a better way to make it. I went to the store’s bakery department and asked if I could have one of their disposable pans that they use to make angelfood cakes. The lady looked at me funny as if this was not a normal request. What? Other people aren’t as cheap as me? She gave me one and I went home happy, glad that I wasn’t a fool who had given in to their marketing scheme of selling pans. I made the batter, filled the pan, and stuck it in the oven. A half hour later I came back to check on the cake. I peeked in and saw that not only was the batter overflowing everywhere into the oven but there were whole clouds of sugary goodness floating around the oven and adhering themselves to the top and sides as well. Apparently egg whites rise significantly and the amount of batter given was not meant to be supported by a much smaller, cheaper pan like I used. Who knew? I spent the rest of the weekend scraping sugar out of the oven and never did get any angel food cake. I guess sometimes being stingy doesn’t always pay.