Baking Nightmare

As someone who enjoys baking and finds it quite therapeutic the last few months have been quite interesting.
Vanilla extract is not available here(alcohol).
Brown sugar comes in a solid lump (assume this is a heat thing) and you have to bash it with a rolling pin but it still has lumps in it or blitz it in the food processor. See the photo above of the sugar after lots of bashing with the rolling pin.
I can only find wax paper and have had to get Rich to bring baking paper from the UK. When I baked cookies on this paper, which says it can be used for this on the packet, when I opened the oven door it was smoking. If used on cakes I can never get them off the paper.
Eggs are a strange size so you have to add extra and hope you have the right amount in.
I cannot even start to explain the oven!
Oh and if you can figure out the cream, mainly whipping cream here, good luck as it must take days to whip.

Alas, things are getting better with practice but the lemon almond and polenta cake leaves a great deal to be desired, this one has never sunk before. Guess I will not be trying to do "The Great British Bake Off" from here.