Monthly Archives: May 2007

I got home from pie making class at 10:30pm. Way past my bedtime. It wasn’t really a pie making class it was a pie pasty class. We actually used tart pans for everything we made. (3 desserts, 3 quiches).

(Geez, how hard can it be to find a photo of a tart pan online? It took me three tries. Kitchen Kaboodle is the lamest kitchen store ever. No time to elaborate at the moment. Also when I put “tart” into the Target search engine it came up with a paperback called “Out of Body Experiences: How to Have Them and What to Expect.” I had no idea that the world needed such a book or that it would be sold at Target. One of the authors’ last name is Tart.)

The secret to pastry is obscene amounts of butter. I’m not sure I’m going to embrace this method. I don’t love butter soaked crust. I’m going to experiment with the butter, shortening combo and also I found a recipe where the author swore by lard. I’m going to try it once.

In class he showed us this one thing and it has a name and I didn’t write it down and don’t want to turn this into a half hour research project when I try to track it down online so I’m just going to explain it. Once you’ve got your gobs of butter cut in to the flour mix (we worked it in with our hands)(you don’t want it too fine) you turn it out on your work surface and do this sort of smearing thing with the heel of your hand. You’re flattening out the butter. You just do it a bit, you don’t want to work it too much, and then scrape it up and put it back in the bowl and add your few tablespoons of ice water and form your beautiful ball of pastry.

We all baked a tart and mine is at home now waiting to be filled. Photos to follow.

My colleague is going on vacation and I finally shamed him into cleaning off his desk (I have photos of this, too. Coming Soon.) It never fails that he’s out of the office for a week and some emergency comes up and I have to “find something” in the mountain of paper on his desk and it makes me cranky and curse his name and wastes half my day so I’m hoping to avoid this scenario. The downside is that in the course of cleaning off his desk he discovered mountains of work for me to do. The point being that I’d really love to write more about tart class and the fabulous thunder shower we had yesterday and then start my public fretting about all the things I have to do this weekend and how will I get them done, but I don’t have time.

About four hours after I washed my car it started raining. I should figure out how to market this power.

Tonight is my pie making class. It’s the same teacher who taught me sourdough back in February. I hope he doesn’t ask how my loaves have been turning out. And I hope I learn pie pastry better than I did sourdough. He makes it look so easy.

My scroll ball on my mouse is broken and I never realized how much I loved that thing until the past three days. I don’t think I even knew how it worked until a few months ago. How quickly technology sucks us in.

I left work a half-hour early today because the May Day march, protest, whatever it’s called, was scheduled to go right by our building and would block the garage exit. I’m sure I’m insensitive and offending some group (I’m so insensitive I don’t know who they are or what they are doing but I think it has to do with labor, immigration, or both) but you know it’s a long day and my protests don’t inconvenience them.

Since I was home early, I decided to wash the car which I almost never do. Sometimes my dear husband will wash it or drive it to the car wash for me. I have a high tolerance for dirty outside car. I like the inside of my car, including the trunk, to be clean and I’ve been teased about this more than once. But I spend a lot of time sitting in there I don’t want it to be like a garbage can.

The outside was filthy from the trip. The Mill Casino gets an A+ for hospitality. Not only was everyone insanely friendly and nice, they seemed to mean it. They are currently in the middle of a huge construction project so all cars disappeared with the valet. If I had one complaint it was that it appeared they drove my car though a fine mist and then parked it next to a dirt farm. It was filthy when it was returned to me and between that and all the road bugs, I couldn’t stand it and gave it a good scrub.

I read today that left-handed women may have a shorter life-span. I’m more lefty than not. I chose to celebrate the news with a reduction in my 401(k) contribution. Might as well have fun with that money now. (Just kidding, Dad!)

This morning Billy came in my office and started cracking his knuckles. Like each individual one.

Me: Knock it off. That’s sexual harassment.

Him: No it’s not. It’s OCD.

Me: Oh. I always get those two confused.

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I know, it’s not that funny but for some reason we thought it was hilarious. I guess at 7:30am caffeine deprived people will go to any length for a laugh.