So, yeah. I guess frustrations and little niggling annoyances are catching up to me this week, resulting in a not-so-great, boring day. I didn't feel good again this morning, so I didn't go to work--I think I needed to be away from work for today anyway, but this does mean a long day tomorrow if I want to make up the hours. I've been wanting to catch up with a few friends this week, but haven't received replies to any of the four e-mails I've sent out. I know folks are busy, and don't have time for a leisurely e-mail stream of consciousness, but to go zero and 4 is just depressing.
(Slight Positive Digression: I did, however, make a tiny dent in the Star Clipper Tribune bag, and watched the rest of "Spellbound." It doesn't hold a candle to "Mad Hot," of course, but I've wanted to see it for a good long time.)
Then, I have had grand plans to make Shepherd's Pie for, like, weeks, and finally decided tonight was the night, and got started on it at 5:30 so I wouldn't even come close to running into "Idol" time (I generally dislike cooking, but especially when it prevents me from watching what I like to on prime time). The onions wouldn't chop up in my fancy chopper, so I had to do it by hand, wasting like ten minutes. I sauteed them with butter for ten, then added the ground beef, which despite being in the fridge for about a day was still frozen, so browning that took a lot longer than I had figured for. The meat and onions were a bit too much for the frying pan, and kept almost going over the edge, but I kept it under control. I was growing increasingly frustrated by each obstacle, but not enough to really freak out, just little "Agh!"s. I was almost done, just making the batch of mashed potatoes to put on top, after more than an hour and a half of cooking. I glopped them on....and despite what the recipe said, quickly realized the pie would require twice the amount of potatoes that it was supposed to. But we're out of milk, now, and the half and half is a month over the sell-by date and does not smell so good, so I can't make more mashed potatoes.
At this point, I just lose it. And cry for awhile.
I guess that sounds stupid. It's just 1 1/4 cups milk. But I'd tried so hard to do this new recipe, encountering little roadblocks but pushing past them, and it's looking and smelling good, and I can see the end! And a stupid cup of milk brings me down. I suppose it was also because the weather's terrible outside, and running to the store to get milk would require bundling up and de-icing the car, and I'd miss most of "Idol" by the time I got back...if it were a gorgeous night, I might pull Neil up for a nice walk to Schnuck's and it would just be a cute little moment. But it wasn't.
I'm not a cook...I try because it's part of my duties, and I sometimes do okay, but I am not a cook. Neil's really super at saying when he likes things and encouraging me to buy what I need to make the job easier, but it's just not my nature. I'm hoping that changes someday. I'd love to lovingly pull each strand of homemade pasta through the maker, lay it out to dry, and experiment with different spices in my homemade sauce while I'm waiting to cook the drying pasta. But just now I take as many shortcuts as I can (you think those potatoes weren't instant??) and get the job done as fast as possible. I relish recipes or kits that let me mix everything in the kit together, put the pan in the oven, and not pay it a lick of attention until the timer dings that it's finished. But, financially, I know it's better to use actual ingredients.
And I have to admit that when the Shepherd's Pie finally, finally came out of the oven, it was delicious.
More good things about today, now that I've spent a million words on the bad:
(Slight Positive Digression: I did, however, make a tiny dent in the Star Clipper Tribune bag, and watched the rest of "Spellbound." It doesn't hold a candle to "Mad Hot," of course, but I've wanted to see it for a good long time.)
Then, I have had grand plans to make Shepherd's Pie for, like, weeks, and finally decided tonight was the night, and got started on it at 5:30 so I wouldn't even come close to running into "Idol" time (I generally dislike cooking, but especially when it prevents me from watching what I like to on prime time). The onions wouldn't chop up in my fancy chopper, so I had to do it by hand, wasting like ten minutes. I sauteed them with butter for ten, then added the ground beef, which despite being in the fridge for about a day was still frozen, so browning that took a lot longer than I had figured for. The meat and onions were a bit too much for the frying pan, and kept almost going over the edge, but I kept it under control. I was growing increasingly frustrated by each obstacle, but not enough to really freak out, just little "Agh!"s. I was almost done, just making the batch of mashed potatoes to put on top, after more than an hour and a half of cooking. I glopped them on....and despite what the recipe said, quickly realized the pie would require twice the amount of potatoes that it was supposed to. But we're out of milk, now, and the half and half is a month over the sell-by date and does not smell so good, so I can't make more mashed potatoes.
At this point, I just lose it. And cry for awhile.
I guess that sounds stupid. It's just 1 1/4 cups milk. But I'd tried so hard to do this new recipe, encountering little roadblocks but pushing past them, and it's looking and smelling good, and I can see the end! And a stupid cup of milk brings me down. I suppose it was also because the weather's terrible outside, and running to the store to get milk would require bundling up and de-icing the car, and I'd miss most of "Idol" by the time I got back...if it were a gorgeous night, I might pull Neil up for a nice walk to Schnuck's and it would just be a cute little moment. But it wasn't.
I'm not a cook...I try because it's part of my duties, and I sometimes do okay, but I am not a cook. Neil's really super at saying when he likes things and encouraging me to buy what I need to make the job easier, but it's just not my nature. I'm hoping that changes someday. I'd love to lovingly pull each strand of homemade pasta through the maker, lay it out to dry, and experiment with different spices in my homemade sauce while I'm waiting to cook the drying pasta. But just now I take as many shortcuts as I can (you think those potatoes weren't instant??) and get the job done as fast as possible. I relish recipes or kits that let me mix everything in the kit together, put the pan in the oven, and not pay it a lick of attention until the timer dings that it's finished. But, financially, I know it's better to use actual ingredients.
And I have to admit that when the Shepherd's Pie finally, finally came out of the oven, it was delicious.
More good things about today, now that I've spent a million words on the bad:
- Leif Garrett kid got voted off, along with Colton. Good stuff!
- The weird shellacky-haired Amy with the god-awful tone-deaf voice did too!
- Neil did some good talking with PP. Things are far from solved, but at least the family's on the same page.
- I brought up our October nuptials, and we decided that we're not going to let our families' preferences or casual commitments decide where we have it. While we'd love everybody to come, wherever it may be, we need to make decisions and base them on what would make us happy (and not put us in the poorhouse!) instead of accommodating everyone else. So it's definitely St. Louis or Columbia. I still really want Roger to officiate!
- The cupcakes are still really good.
- NYTX wasn't...and it's just been a bad week overall for this, hasn't it?...but I like that I'm trying every day.
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