My yesterday was in no way as stressful as Roxanne's and I pray her today is much, much better. I would like to tell you a short story of my day to perhaps amuse you a little. I could be amused after it was over.
It began with my sis' turkeys getting out of their pen, coming into the yard and pooping on the patio...yuk. I herded them back into the pen, which was no easy task and then scrubbed the patio off. We then had a rolling thunder storm which frightened my Buddy dog into a nervous mess. My sis' dogs are not normally bothered by it, but there were several near misses which scared them too. Late morning I began the mise en place for the White Pepper and Ginger Lemon cake by going to the store for fresh ginger and some lemons. Since they have few gadgets, I had purchased a carpenter's microplane blade to zest the lemons only to discover it held onto the zest and no matter how I banged it wouldn't let go...so, I used a veggie peeler to remove the zest and then finely minced it..that was ok, I don't mind, then of course I had to mince the ginger very fine which is another thing I use the microplane for. Ok, that's done. On to gathering and measuring the other ingredients...no white pepper, baking soda, or buttermilk..awright, another trip to the store. Now for the 3 cups of flour...oh no, not a speck in the house...off to the store again. Keep in mind that she lives in the middle of a truck farm..it's about 3 miles to the bottom of the hill (all at 25 mph) and another 3 or so to the store. The first time or two wasn't too bad because even if I had to wait for the road crew cutting the roadside brush, I could enjoy the sweet smell of freshly mown grass. Now, it's just plain irritating..the whole thing. Ok, mise en place is done. Out comes the large mixer I'd given her, a Sunbeam Mixmaster,...no electrical cord..search high and low, finally call her in Colorado...still no cord. I find the smaller, but still powerful, hand mixer I'd given her, and although it takes longer than my KitchenAid mixer it finally does the job. Before she had left, I'd asked where her bundt pan was...she didn't use it so had given it away. She went to the neighbors, who the cake was for by the way, and they had one...a very light weight tin one...that would never do, so (this was before I began the mise en place) off shopping for a bundt pan. A new one was ~ $15.00..no way. Goodwill Thrift store didn't have one; Red, White and Blue Thrift store didn't have one; aah, Salvation Army Thrift store did...$.99. Good, but whomever had used it last had not cleaned it and it was sticky and gummed with residew...that's cleaned up and ready. Batter is in the pan. Now for her stove..she has a glass top with all the pushbutton controls...got the oven set and heated, pan goes into the oven. Now to set the timer..that's done, 10 minutes later I hear this beeping and rush to the kitchen only to find the timer has gone off and turned the oven off. Finally figure out how to shut the damned timer off, reset the oven and 70 minutes later remove this beautiful cake from the oven. Let it cool, remove it from the pan onto a rack; baste it with the sugar/lemon juice mixture and admire the way it just sucks that mixture up. Cover it and transport it to the neighbors (a whole 100 feet) and the mistress of the house wants to try it right away. I watch as her face lights up in delight and the flavors blend in her mouth and she moans in appreciation, "Oh Billy, this is wonderful!"
Satisfaction for a job well done and the irritation melts into amusement and pride that I could make someone feel that way with my efforts.
That was my yesterday.
Today started with the turkeys back in the yard and turkey poop on the patio...we'll see what today brings as I labor to prepare the Chicken Parmesan Roulades for the neighbors enjoyment tonight.
It began with my sis' turkeys getting out of their pen, coming into the yard and pooping on the patio...yuk. I herded them back into the pen, which was no easy task and then scrubbed the patio off. We then had a rolling thunder storm which frightened my Buddy dog into a nervous mess. My sis' dogs are not normally bothered by it, but there were several near misses which scared them too. Late morning I began the mise en place for the White Pepper and Ginger Lemon cake by going to the store for fresh ginger and some lemons. Since they have few gadgets, I had purchased a carpenter's microplane blade to zest the lemons only to discover it held onto the zest and no matter how I banged it wouldn't let go...so, I used a veggie peeler to remove the zest and then finely minced it..that was ok, I don't mind, then of course I had to mince the ginger very fine which is another thing I use the microplane for. Ok, that's done. On to gathering and measuring the other ingredients...no white pepper, baking soda, or buttermilk..awright, another trip to the store. Now for the 3 cups of flour...oh no, not a speck in the house...off to the store again. Keep in mind that she lives in the middle of a truck farm..it's about 3 miles to the bottom of the hill (all at 25 mph) and another 3 or so to the store. The first time or two wasn't too bad because even if I had to wait for the road crew cutting the roadside brush, I could enjoy the sweet smell of freshly mown grass. Now, it's just plain irritating..the whole thing. Ok, mise en place is done. Out comes the large mixer I'd given her, a Sunbeam Mixmaster,...no electrical cord..search high and low, finally call her in Colorado...still no cord. I find the smaller, but still powerful, hand mixer I'd given her, and although it takes longer than my KitchenAid mixer it finally does the job. Before she had left, I'd asked where her bundt pan was...she didn't use it so had given it away. She went to the neighbors, who the cake was for by the way, and they had one...a very light weight tin one...that would never do, so (this was before I began the mise en place) off shopping for a bundt pan. A new one was ~ $15.00..no way. Goodwill Thrift store didn't have one; Red, White and Blue Thrift store didn't have one; aah, Salvation Army Thrift store did...$.99. Good, but whomever had used it last had not cleaned it and it was sticky and gummed with residew...that's cleaned up and ready. Batter is in the pan. Now for her stove..she has a glass top with all the pushbutton controls...got the oven set and heated, pan goes into the oven. Now to set the timer..that's done, 10 minutes later I hear this beeping and rush to the kitchen only to find the timer has gone off and turned the oven off. Finally figure out how to shut the damned timer off, reset the oven and 70 minutes later remove this beautiful cake from the oven. Let it cool, remove it from the pan onto a rack; baste it with the sugar/lemon juice mixture and admire the way it just sucks that mixture up. Cover it and transport it to the neighbors (a whole 100 feet) and the mistress of the house wants to try it right away. I watch as her face lights up in delight and the flavors blend in her mouth and she moans in appreciation, "Oh Billy, this is wonderful!"
Satisfaction for a job well done and the irritation melts into amusement and pride that I could make someone feel that way with my efforts.
That was my yesterday.
Today started with the turkeys back in the yard and turkey poop on the patio...we'll see what today brings as I labor to prepare the Chicken Parmesan Roulades for the neighbors enjoyment tonight.
Don't wait too long to tell someone you love them.
Billy
Billy