"You can't help respecting anybody who can spell TUESDAY, even if he doesn't spell it right; but spelling isn't everything. There are days when spelling Tuesday simply doesn't count."
Winnie the Pooh The House at Pooh Corner
Tuesday=Cooking I'm telling you I have more and more respect all you chefs and bakers in the the world. Of course I also have more and more proof that the ability to cook or lack there of is not necessarily something one has any sort of control over. Kind of like the clumsy little girl who would love to be a ballerina but try as she might it's obvious her calling is not to pirouette across the stage.
That, my friends, time and time again is me and my growing arch enemy...cooking. Ugh, so tonight I'm going to make my lovely friend Steph a cake for her birthday tomorrow (I can write this because I even told her about it, smart move, eh?) all that did was create unrealistic expectations on me. Hopefully Steph knows me enough by now, I can't cook and I say too much (oh drat!). I'm still working on shutting myself up. Anyway, so I was mixing away the boxed cake I had gotten, put it in the oven, waited anxiously for the 28-30 minutes to pass; then with the dinging of the timer I leaped into action grabbing the dish towel and pulling the hot pan out of the oven.
Okay, it's sort of a cake I assured myself, glancing at the box again to make sure I didn't miss some special high altitude directions I should be using at sea level...seems like cakes should be taller than this. You see, when I put something into an oven, it mysteriously transforms into Pandora's Box. I can never tell what will come out. I shrugged it off and chalked it up to the choice of pan being too big. No matter, I told myself I'll just add more frosting that can't possibly be a bad thing. As I waited for it to cool I couldn't help but move in for a closer inspection, ugh, all the frosting at the store isn't going to make this look like a real cake! I can't even bake a boxed cake! What is wrong with me? This is definitely not what a cake should look like, it looks like a pancake in comparison to cakes. Since the frosting won't do it I decide to cut the cake in half and make a double decker. 
That'll make it look like a real cake! My friend Traci attempted to provide some first aid assistance but it was rather futile. In defeat I dug through my cupboard looking for what would be cake number two. Aha, I have one, it's the same kind as the deflated one sitting to my left. "A second chance!" I proclaimed aloud! (I love second chances). Then as I was inspecting the box again and comparing it to the very unique rendition of a birthday which sat left on the counter, I spotted the fine print, stuffed in the upper corner of the box far above the "CHOCOLATE FUDGE" plastered across the front of the box....'brownies'. What!!!! Steph's birthday cake is a brownie!!! Rather, WHAT?!? Steph's birthday cake is TWO BROWNIES!?! I give up! I shoved the box back into the recesses of my very disorganized cupboard and muttered under my breath. Traci, ever optimistic, and a culinary genius assured me it would be fine then completed frosting the double decker brownie. It is now posing as a birthday cake. Somewhere out in the world of pastries there are brownies that would kill for this kind of opportunity. Furthermore what kind of advertising is that...you practically had to have a magnifying glass to find the word...'brownie'. Apparently Betty Crocker hasn't dealt much with customers such as myself, lucky her! And you'll be happy to know that Steph also made herself her own cake this evening too. Must have been a premonition.
Then there was yesterday's fiasco while trying to make a fried egg sandwich. My reasoning went something like this...
1. Find eggs in fridge (remember to Thank God for eggs which are never at the store, ever)
2. Pick up egg out of carton to crack and put in pan
Here is where my problem arose. The egg was stuck to the carton, you know from the dried yoke of some egg cracked before it. So my brain then said, "Hey simple, just crack the egg while it's in the carton, turn the carton over the pan and taaah- dah! I did not however take into account the FIVE OTHER EGGS IN THE CARTON...3 of which were not attached like the one I was perseverating on. As I was turning the carton upside down I knew it all too late. I dumped the 3 eggs right out, luckily they plummeted into the pan. I managed to salvage them, picking out the shells. And there was Traci witness to it all, rolling around on the kitchen floor laughing at the shocked stupor on my face. "I seriously didn't know you were going to do that," she snorted "or I would have stopped you." Real funny, right? As my bigger than me baby brother Sam, so often likes to remind me, "And you are educating the future of our world???" Well we can all thank the Lord that his forte is in dealing with cracked pots! Because I take the cake! (pardon the pun;)
So I'm going to Bethel on Friday for Camai Festival and more new teacher in-service. Looking forward to seeing the other newbies from this year. It will be exciting to find out who is gonna be back for the sequel in 2010-11. Also back by popular demand is MIKE all the way from LCO. He'll be flying into Bethel Friday and on to Quinhagak with me Sunday. The kids have been buzzing about it all week. "Only FIVE more sleeps and Mike will visit!!!" The house will be alive with the sound of children. It will be so nice to have a friend from home back for a bit again. Well, that's the latest from the tundra land.
Check out this last pic, it's of the beach last weekend. That's open water out there peeps! Spring is coming. The other pics are some of Animosh, I took while skijoring.
Shout Out to: LISA!!! Happiest Birthday on FRIDAY the 26th! Celebrating you my friend! Do something fun and crazy...(I dare you;) Welcome home Gram! She just got done with her inpatient rehab for her stroke and is now getting outpatient rehab back home! She is doing really good, Mum says. Again thank you all for your prayers! Love You Guys!
Maybe poor Martha's cake was a brownie too...
Winnie the Pooh The House at Pooh Corner
Tuesday=Cooking I'm telling you I have more and more respect all you chefs and bakers in the the world. Of course I also have more and more proof that the ability to cook or lack there of is not necessarily something one has any sort of control over. Kind of like the clumsy little girl who would love to be a ballerina but try as she might it's obvious her calling is not to pirouette across the stage.
That, my friends, time and time again is me and my growing arch enemy...cooking. Ugh, so tonight I'm going to make my lovely friend Steph a cake for her birthday tomorrow (I can write this because I even told her about it, smart move, eh?) all that did was create unrealistic expectations on me. Hopefully Steph knows me enough by now, I can't cook and I say too much (oh drat!). I'm still working on shutting myself up. Anyway, so I was mixing away the boxed cake I had gotten, put it in the oven, waited anxiously for the 28-30 minutes to pass; then with the dinging of the timer I leaped into action grabbing the dish towel and pulling the hot pan out of the oven.
Okay, it's sort of a cake I assured myself, glancing at the box again to make sure I didn't miss some special high altitude directions I should be using at sea level...seems like cakes should be taller than this. You see, when I put something into an oven, it mysteriously transforms into Pandora's Box. I can never tell what will come out. I shrugged it off and chalked it up to the choice of pan being too big. No matter, I told myself I'll just add more frosting that can't possibly be a bad thing. As I waited for it to cool I couldn't help but move in for a closer inspection, ugh, all the frosting at the store isn't going to make this look like a real cake! I can't even bake a boxed cake! What is wrong with me? This is definitely not what a cake should look like, it looks like a pancake in comparison to cakes. Since the frosting won't do it I decide to cut the cake in half and make a double decker. 
That'll make it look like a real cake! My friend Traci attempted to provide some first aid assistance but it was rather futile. In defeat I dug through my cupboard looking for what would be cake number two. Aha, I have one, it's the same kind as the deflated one sitting to my left. "A second chance!" I proclaimed aloud! (I love second chances). Then as I was inspecting the box again and comparing it to the very unique rendition of a birthday which sat left on the counter, I spotted the fine print, stuffed in the upper corner of the box far above the "CHOCOLATE FUDGE" plastered across the front of the box....'brownies'. What!!!! Steph's birthday cake is a brownie!!! Rather, WHAT?!? Steph's birthday cake is TWO BROWNIES!?! I give up! I shoved the box back into the recesses of my very disorganized cupboard and muttered under my breath. Traci, ever optimistic, and a culinary genius assured me it would be fine then completed frosting the double decker brownie. It is now posing as a birthday cake. Somewhere out in the world of pastries there are brownies that would kill for this kind of opportunity. Furthermore what kind of advertising is that...you practically had to have a magnifying glass to find the word...'brownie'. Apparently Betty Crocker hasn't dealt much with customers such as myself, lucky her! And you'll be happy to know that Steph also made herself her own cake this evening too. Must have been a premonition.Then there was yesterday's fiasco while trying to make a fried egg sandwich. My reasoning went something like this...
1. Find eggs in fridge (remember to Thank God for eggs which are never at the store, ever)
2. Pick up egg out of carton to crack and put in pan
Here is where my problem arose. The egg was stuck to the carton, you know from the dried yoke of some egg cracked before it. So my brain then said, "Hey simple, just crack the egg while it's in the carton, turn the carton over the pan and taaah- dah! I did not however take into account the FIVE OTHER EGGS IN THE CARTON...3 of which were not attached like the one I was perseverating on. As I was turning the carton upside down I knew it all too late. I dumped the 3 eggs right out, luckily they plummeted into the pan. I managed to salvage them, picking out the shells. And there was Traci witness to it all, rolling around on the kitchen floor laughing at the shocked stupor on my face. "I seriously didn't know you were going to do that," she snorted "or I would have stopped you." Real funny, right? As my bigger than me baby brother Sam, so often likes to remind me, "And you are educating the future of our world???" Well we can all thank the Lord that his forte is in dealing with cracked pots! Because I take the cake! (pardon the pun;)
So I'm going to Bethel on Friday for Camai Festival and more new teacher in-service. Looking forward to seeing the other newbies from this year. It will be exciting to find out who is gonna be back for the sequel in 2010-11. Also back by popular demand is MIKE all the way from LCO. He'll be flying into Bethel Friday and on to Quinhagak with me Sunday. The kids have been buzzing about it all week. "Only FIVE more sleeps and Mike will visit!!!" The house will be alive with the sound of children. It will be so nice to have a friend from home back for a bit again. Well, that's the latest from the tundra land.
Check out this last pic, it's of the beach last weekend. That's open water out there peeps! Spring is coming. The other pics are some of Animosh, I took while skijoring.
Shout Out to: LISA!!! Happiest Birthday on FRIDAY the 26th! Celebrating you my friend! Do something fun and crazy...(I dare you;) Welcome home Gram! She just got done with her inpatient rehab for her stroke and is now getting outpatient rehab back home! She is doing really good, Mum says. Again thank you all for your prayers! Love You Guys!
Maybe poor Martha's cake was a brownie too...
...She had a sister, Mary, who sat before the Master, hanging on every word he said. But Martha was pulled away by all she had to do in the kitchen. Later, she stepped in, interrupting them. "Master, don't you care that my sister has abandoned the kitchen to me? Tell her to lend me a hand." The Master said, "Martha, dear Martha, you're fussing far too much and getting yourself worked up over nothing. One thing only is essential, and Mary has chosen it - it's the main course, and won't be taken from her." Luke 10:39-42
And the cake/brownie turned out extra delicious!!! Watch out Martha Stuart Rachel is on her way :)
ReplyDeleteBest B-day EVER!
Your the bestest and I LOVE that your staying, we are going to have so much fun for another year :)
Steph
Steph, You are so worth it! I'm glad you enjoyed yourself. I'll make it special for us again on our Eek-a-rod mushing debut next winter! Lol Yay! I'm staying:) !!!!
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