In my home, animals outnumber humans. Since my last post, the habitat has changed and the creatures have increased.
A shoulder cat named Darbi joined us over a year ago and a trash dog named Emma was introduced at the peak of summer.
We are surrounded! At the very least we can all pile together for warmth.
Any moments that place me within an arms length of all the furry creatures at once are especially noteworthy.
More than one year ago my brain was vacuumed sealed. Recently it’s been thawed, re-introduced to fresh air and permitted to stew in it’s own juices. I am again seeing through the muck of every day work and routine, but this time without completely halting any productivity and still chugging toward the vaguest of goals. I must say, I did miss the keeping of odd hours. Consistent sleep always seems to distract me from the most succulent thoughts and activities. There is no need to fret, my restlessness has returned! One very large step in the right direction began two or so weeks ago with the half drunken promise between myself and a very good friend; typically grand plans with branches of possibility shooting dangerously in every direction. The thing that made it different was the follow-through. That is to say, we actually followed through. An absolutely rare (if not nearly extinct!) occurrence in my shared life with others. If we did even a tenth of the things we discussed…
We joined forces with this basic objective: Bake our faces off!
With our adventure off to a not-so-surprising late start, the first leg of our plan began: the gathering of supplies.
It is difficult for me to shop with other people, whether I’m at the grocery store, fabric and crafts, thrift store or anywhere! This is because I get excited. Very fucking excited. Things and colors and ideas swirl about my head in a joyful delusion any time I am exposed to many items at once. Match this overwhelming amusement with my scatter-brained judgement and you get a lot of strange grunting sounds, clapping, gasping and jumping up and down. A lot of cursing too. Plus I have to touch everything, I’m like a four-year-old (a four-year-old muttering FUCK out of excitement and subsequently spending all my tip money).
However, on this day my shopping partner was Laura. With her I don’t feel rushed and my general sense of being overwhelmed is accented with her equally childlike amazement and delight at being surrounded by so many options. This being said, we are still a spectacle of oddity. One giant and one half-ling skipping about wildly, communicating perfectly with a series of high pitched sounds and clicks. I wont venture too far into the details, just know that our three stops were a perfect mess. The bulk foods section made an especially strong impression on me. For the first time in the my life, under the valuable guidance of Laura’s experience and knowledge, I would have a kitchen filled with all the basic baking supplies needed to fuel many a late-night, green-induced foray into a new recipe. I’d say we got more than enough to start us off.
The rest of the event was a whirlwind of creation! We set out to make several specific items. A 7-up cake (with green butter), Nanaimo Bars (a Canadian favourite), Madeleine cookies/cupcakes, Sourdough bread (in the bread maker) and apple bread. The kitchen ended up completely trashed and all the counters covered in more treats than we knew what to do with.
The Nanaimos are a sweet I’m very fond of. A tasty no bake, triple layered bar that just requires a little patience. This was my first attempt at making them. If I remember correctly, while growing up in southern British Columbia my mother made them with mint in the top layer of chocolate. This is either true, or just something I want to be true because minty-chocolate goodies are magnificent! Unfortunately on this day I had no mint in my kitchen so I attempted to capture it’s sense by dying the middle cream layer of the nanaimos green and by also crushing up two candy canes I found and incorporating them into the top chocolate layer. I don’t think the canes were enough to really add flavor, but they sure looked excellent!
The night spun by in a sort of lovely exhaustion.
Creation is something that I feel should be respected deeply by all. Whether it’s art, music, food, words (or socks woven from cat hair) it’s simply incredible! Of course, the individual attached the hands of creation should be especially grateful.
[green butter]
And remember kids: always buy bulk!
Knotty Thoughts 