I've been generally lucky as far as disasters in the kitchen. Or maybe I'm just really good at blocking out unplesant memories. There was the infamous avocado soup disaster, but for the most part even if things don't turn out the way I planned, I can manage to do some kind of salvage job. I've had a couple of blender mishaps, and I pretty regularly spew frosting or cake batter all over courtesy of my old electric mixer, but I'm usually pretty tidy. Which is why this morning's incident really threw me for a loop. I was warming up some honey in the microwave to make oatmeal bread. I've warmed honey in the microwave many times before--it's a delicate operation, to be sure, but one I thought I had mastered. I don't know if I set the timer a touch too long, or if the honey-air ratio was off, or what. But I heard a loud POP and opened the door to a honey cascade. And honey stalactites (they are the hanging down ones, right?. I managed to coax the required 1/4 cup out of the remains of the poor bear (he had not actually exploded, thankfully) and took the tray out and ran some hot water over it. And closed the door, to think about it later. Ugh.
It really wasn't that bad a deal in the end--a hot dishcloth took care of it. But it was a really super surprising (and humbling) start to my day.
In other news, the oatmeal bread is on it's 2nd rise. I just finished a delicious breakfast of one of the last chunks of molasses-buttermilk bread with amish butter, melted farmer's goat cheese, and tart apple. Yummers. I got the curtains for the den yesterday and they are extremely lovely. Rebby hung then right away while I watched Friends and drank a beer and suffered unexplained back pain. The light coming through the curtains this morning, all diffuse-y from the plastic covered windows underneath, was gorgeous. It made me REALLY want to simplify that room. I think I want to paint it the color of the pumpkin candles I have scattered around (an xmas present from my brother a year ago) I also really want to get a simpler sofa and some kind of closed door cabinetry to contain all of our CDs and DVDs and VHSs. Their abundance makes for a very fussy looking living space. Like I always say--there's plenty of time for all that. It's just nice to have something of a plan.
Today I have an afternoon band practice (we'll see how that goes) and I have plans to journey up to the Village of Eastside to get some cilantro for my butternut squash chili, and some scallions for the ale bread recipe madorange just sent to me, and also to visit Staples where hopefully they will have a Year at a Glance wall calendar. I think that is the only way I am going to be able to stay organized this year. We're getting catering inquiries fast and furious these days and I'm starting to get a little overwhelmed. We need to strike a balance between taking as much business as we can handle and, well, not taking more than we can handle. I want to be able to see it all graphically.
This evening I have a date with my favorite blue eyed boy, who apparently can sit in the big kid highchairs at Whole Foods now. Aunt Shirley is so proud! Hopefully I can score a date with his mom soon too. And Aunt Daisy. I'm not knocking the "in bed by 10pm every night" lifestyle, but I do want to balance it out a bit with some sociability. Wish me luck.