The Cluster that Just Was

I know, right? I don't post for three weeks and now I post twice in one evening. But, I have 44 minutes to spare, I need to stay awake, and I already had date night with TiVo this weekend. So, it's either this or read and I did that all afternoon. I can only bleach the sink one time before I get labeled OCD. Besides, what just happened needs to be chronicled for posterity.

Tomorrow morning I'm hosting the UMin staff meeting at my house. That entails basically having coffee and a few snacks for the 14 folks I work with. No problem; I love baking. Janie requested pumpkin bread, one of my specialties (and something that should have been listed in the previous post as something I love about fall. Perhaps "Fall Foods" needs its own listing. I digress.)

This evening, I go to make the bread thinking I have everything I need. I even had a can of pumpkin because I knew fall was coming. Around 9, I go to the kitchen to start the project only to find that I don't have milk, so it's off to Safeway for me. I get home, work my magic with my lovely Kitchenaid, get the batter in the 2 loaf pans, and put them in the oven. Then I start cleaning up the mess - something that gives me an odd pleasure. I get the Kitchenaid bowl filled with soapy water, measuring spoons & cups, spatulas, and anything else that needs cleaning and fits inside. While that soaks, I go to wipe the counter. Only to find a bowl with about 1/3 of the remaining flour mixture. D'oh!

I rush to get the loaves out of the oven thinking they hadn't been in there long enough for it to be too late. I found out quickly they had definitely been in there long enough to burn my fingers off (apparently 5 minutes or so is long enough to need a hot pad). YOW! I put my hands under cold water for a few seconds before rescuing the bread from the oven. How badly was I burned? Let's just say I don't have to worry about those crimes I recently committed because my fingerprints on my thumb and first two fingers of both hands has now been altered. I wish I were kidding. I cannot feel the keys as I type.

So, after a little while longer at the sink, I return to the pumpkin bread. All the batter returns to the now-clean mixing bowl and I add the remaining flour, remix, throw it back in the oven, and return to cleaning. I throw the kitchen mat in the washer since I have to wait 50 minutes for the bread anyway. The sink gets scrubbed. My hands periodically return to the cold water. I go ahead and pull out the tea and mugs for the morning. I look at the oven. Two minutes left. Sleep is near. I take a peek. They are just as I had put them in. Once again: D'OH! I.am.brilliant. Apparently in my anger at the oven for heating so quickly and burning off the pads of my fingers, I had turned it off. "That-will-show-it." Except I forgot to turn it back on. Yes, brilliant. So, this project I went into the kitchen to start at 9 that was supposed to still get me in bed by 10:30 continues even now. I tell you what, whatever comes out of that oven 21 minutes better be damn good. Now how should I spend that time?

This blog needs some fall colors.