Saturday, December 17, 2011

Sugar, Shoes, Desert Island

You guys, it's 5:30 am in the morning (...is my least favorite way that people choose to emphasize just how early it really is, "it's so early that redundancy doesn't apply to me!") and my brain woke me up. I've become quite the light sleeper these days. I kept trying to fall asleep but then all I could think about were different candies that I can make for Christmas.



The other day, there was a fiasco with the creation of some caramels. So, The Internet kept telling me "do not attempt this without a candy thermometer!" But I didn't listen to her. I said, "Internet, grandmas have been making caramels for centuries before thermometers were even invented!" (Correction: I just learned that the thermometer was developed in the 1500's) So I just went with it, believing that I could trust my instincts about the matter. For the record, that's not the case. The Internet kept saying, "the sugar will go from perfect to burned in a matter of seconds, so watch it closely and take it off the heat when it's golden brown!" So I was very, very cautious to stare at the sugar and not let it burn and to take it off the heat when it's golden brown.
But I was premature. The sugar wasn't hot enough to eventually turn into soft, chewy candy. Science, you bastard! The good news is that I didn't get close to burning it at all, though, so it was still tasty. It was just a liquid. A liquid that's so good on pancakes or in my coffee or warmed up and poured over Stephen Colbert's Americone Dream. It wasn't a complete wash. I just didn't have a huge bowl of perfectly wrapped candies to give to my friends. I was going to sprinkle apple cider mix into them. So, yeah. Now, I can't get candy out of my brain. I want to find a way to turn my favorite drinks into treats.

I made a gingerbread almond bark that kind of reminds me of gingersnaps and milk. Now, I have an idea to make a Mexican hot chocolate bark and a peppermint mocha one. By now, it's not so much that I want to eat all the candy. I just, I wrote to Katie, "want to make molten sugar my b----."

My favorite shoes are a light yellow canvas and the other day they got stained with mud. I'm thinking about painting them. I've wanted a pair of red shoes. Maybe I'll paint them red, today. Maybe now. Maybe I'll wear a pair of red shoes to the Christmas party, tonight. It's so early in the morning. I've had coffee going for an hour. I will need to schedule a nap or keep the coffee going all day.

(Update: This took about 20 minutes)

(End Update)

500 Days of Summer is what I do when I can't sleep. I've blogged about it at least once, before. Probably many more times. The first time that I watched it, it had a major effect on me. Maybe I'll go find that old blog-post and link to it. I like watching it at different points in my life when my brain changes. So I decided to watch it for, probably, the dozenth time. I bought my copy from the video store in town and so there are no special features because it's a particular copy that was intended to be rented out. I wish I could watch it with the commentary.
I'm not the kind of person who can readily think of favorites. I don't have a favorite band or a favorite song or a favorite color, candy, movie, book, section of the newspaper or breakfast cereal. Okay, that's not entirely true--Quaker oatmeal squares is my favorite but I never buy it because it's expensive and there's maybe 3 bowls worth in there. I don't have a lot of favorites but I do have answers for the desert island question. If I was stranded on a desert island and only had one movie, it could easily be 500 Days of Summer. And if I only had one novel, it would be Anne Lamott's Rosie. That doesn't mean that they're the best movies or books--you can't have the most delicious thing for the rest of your life can you? Maybe some people could but it's more important to me to have that comfort zone thing available to me. I don't have a security blanket but I have certain books and movies and songs.

What are your desert island items?

And if I only had one candy it would be the Mexican hot chocolate bark that's in my brain and has yet to be materialized.

3 comments:

Kat said...

After you have successfully dominated molten sugar, which you will, I would like to order a lot of pieces of the peppermint mocha bark. We all know how I feel about peppermint mocha. If P.M. could somehow materialize into a man, I would kidnap him and force him to marry me and be happy.

Also, Carla Bruni? Really? It's not enough that she's a MODEL and ACTRESS and THE FIRST LADY OF FRANCE, but she can SING, too? She must've been an incredibly obedient child. Surely she hath been rewarded.

(The shoes are BEAUTIFUL. I was initially sad that you had to paint them, but they are truly a vision in red.)

Libby Marie said...

I just made the peppermint mocha bark. It's not at all like the coffee creamer. It's chocolate and peppermint bits and finely ground coffee. Probably not disgusting to eat though. But who knows, really?

And these shoes look like they've been painted--which isn't terrible, actually. I'm debating about polka dots.

Kat said...

Oh, I don't just like the coffee creamer. I just like ALL THINGS peppermint mocha.

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