F+?

Is an F+ a real grade? This a big fail for me. which I do NOT take well! I've never gotten an F but the + makes me feel a little better

It all started yesterday when I assembled all my ingredients and made a list of items I needed to pick up. After a bike ride to dinner and the store and then back I started to whip up some of Grams Gob's only to run out of Vanilla - fail #1. My wonderful husband made a quick run to the store to pick some more up while I continued to bake the cookies, half of which burned - fail #2. After the cookies cooled I trimmed off the burnt bottoms and began the icing. I combined the milk and flour as told and put it in the fridge to cool, mixed the rest of the ingredients for the icing and pulled out the milk/flour mixture and added it in and i had . . . SOUP. . . not icing SOUP. Fail #3 After reassessing the recipe and pulling from experience, I gathered that I should have simmered the Milk and flour until it was thick not until it was mixed. So i put the cookies in Tupperware and grabbed my book at went to bed at 9pm - I didn't want to give the Day a chance to get any worse.
I know I am over exaggerating a bit but baking is my thing - it may not always come out pretty but I know how to follow a recipe and it always tastes good, so this was hard for me to take in.

I woke up this morning and made attempt #2 of the Icing. I started with the milk and flour and cooked it until it was thick, placed it in the fridge to cool and started on phase 2 of the recipe. I then added in the milk/flour mixture and beat it but it NEVER got fluffy but it was thick enough to make the cookies stick together and tasted fine to me. So I assembled the cookies and called it a day.

Not sure why I couldn't get this recipe right - it seems easy enough. I admit I did cheat on the Crisco - I always use generic margarine. I've always used it for dinners, cookies, cakes and icing and NEVER had an issue but I suppose that could have been the issue either way the MR. has been warned if he ever wants these again he'd better ask Gram because I wont be attempting them again for a looooong time!

Below are a few pictures to show my progress - at the end I added red food coloring to the icing (figured I couldn't ruin it any more) because its almost VALENTINES DAY!