This week the kitchen has gradually worn me down. First, I was making pasta dough and the bottom part of the kitchen aid that holds the beater completely fell off into the bowl. Since this piece is compression fit at the factory there is no quick and easy fix. The part has to be ordered and then there is the labor to swap it out. It's going to be more than a hundred dollars to fix (but still less than the price of a new mixer) and is rather disappointing. I admit to feeling a surge of relief that there is a reason to not over commit myself to some mysterious baking agenda and have been much more accepting of the damage.
Then I tried to make a salted caramel tart, the base of which is a graham cracker crust. Long story short, I took a perfect crust out of the oven and set it on a burner to cool. In my haste to make the filling I turned on the wrong stove burner and didn't notice it until the crust, and the parchment beneath it, were on the verge of flames. That was definitely not what I hoped my house would smell like on Thanksgiving.
After that I ended up burning the caramel filling beyond recognition. When I decided to make a pumpkin mousse filling instead (since I didn't really have ingredients left for much else) I found that one of the beaters to my hand mixer had completely come apart. Have you tried to beat anything with only one beater? It is hardly effective, to say the least.
I ended up trying to make a filling using the dough hooks for the hand mixer and while the end result was fairly tasty, the consistency was not what I hoped and it seemed like a mediocre standby to me. I blame pregnancy brain, even if that's a cheap shot. I can't seriously be this goofed up on my own. The thought that this accurately represents my kitchen competency is too much for me to bear.
I've been in a bit of a sick-of-being-pregnant funk lately so it's about time I begin this year's list. Remembering how much I have to be thankful for always helps me refocus.
50 Things I'm Thankful For v. 2013
- A healthy body. It may not always do what I want without protest, but I'm so thankful for it and the capabilities I have as a result
- Getting kicked in the ribs, and the way it reminds me every day what a miracle it is to grow a person
- Lindor Dark Chocolate Truffles
- A husband who is far and away a better match for me than I ever dreamed I would find
- Two beautiful girls, who keep me on my toes and challenge me in every possible way
- Getting to be nursery leader at church for the better part of this year. I miss it every single week
- Living in a place that is naturally green and beyond description beautiful
- Kite flying at the coast
- Date nights with my husband, where we can pretend for a time that outside demands are non-existent
- Artistic, creative friends who continually inspire and motivate me to indulge my own creative sensibilities
- Health Insurance
- Pillows. Lots and lots of pillows
- Hot water heaters; my favorite invention of all time
- Hand-me-down baby clothes
- The power of sunshine to heal the soul
- A mother who let me know beyond a shadow of doubt that I was the most important thing in her world
- Access to our apartment community room for whatever gathering we feel like planning
- Target clearance sales
- Walking away from a gorgeous marble cake plate on clearance at Target just this week
- My iphone still working, even though I dropped it in water and had a minor panic attack
- The many National Park adventures the hubs and I have been able to have
- The ability to pursue education
- Selling things on Craigslist and feeling like less of a slave to material possessions
- Having a dishwasher
- Mandatory recycling
- Vitamin Water
- Warm baths
- Pinterest, now that I've learned how to use it without letting it suck my life away
- Sweet Life Patisserie
- Beautiful cake plates
- Wild daffodils growing along I-5
- The Eugene Celebration parade
- Amazing friends we've met in grad school
- Learning that my camera and lens have limitations, meaning that the barriers to getting the shots I want are not all operator error
- Super Saturday
- The extreme diversity of this beautiful planet
- Opportunities to meet people from all over the world in student housing, and consequently to learn about how very many things I take for granted living in the United States
- Lotion
- Fleece blankets
- Bicycle traffic lights
- Clean water to drink
- Having never wondered where my family would find their next meal
- Family bike rides in the summer
- Leather boots
- Three pairs of glasses in the right prescription, so there is always a style to fit my mood or a pair to wear when I misplace one of the others
- Banana Republic Visa card rewards
- Bird songs at any time of day along the Amazon Parkway Trail
- Ice cold drinking water
- Picking berries with my family
- Faith
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