Often, I have been waking up in the middle of the night and imagining the perfect job gently floating in the breeze, around the trees, pirouetting in the blue sky as it is carried this way and that, and landing right in my lap like that feather in Forrest Gump. My heart swells as the Alan Silvestri soundtrack uplifts my spirits and this job-feather sways to the left, then loops a few times just out of reach and right when I think it will shoot up into the infinite sky, away from me forever, it seems to change its mind in mid-flight, circles back, tickles my cheek and makes the softest, most perfect landing right on my tan Gump-like slacks.
Forrest's Momma said, "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get." Lately, I feel like I keep getting the crappy chocolate. I want the scotchmallow of pure happiness or the maple buttercream of excellent luck. But nope, it's the fruit nougat of joblessness for me. My Momma also had a nugget of wisdom. She said, "stop your whining and go out and play." So instead of stewing in my chocolate metaphor, I decided to play with some.
Like most people, I love the combination of chocolate and caramel. It's a perfect storm of deliciousness. I found a recipe for chocolate sandwich cookies that have caramel in the middle. It sounded so good, and also a little daunting. I needed a candy thermometer. Most of the time when I see a recipe that requires special equipment, I immediately cast it aside because it seems hard. But I happened to have a candy thermometer so I wasn't going to allow myself any excuses. The one I have was given to me by my Aunt Frannie. It's called the Betty Furness Thermometer Set and it must be from about 1952. You can tell from the packaging that Betty Furness does not mess around with her thermometers. One look at her competent face and you know that she has a roast on the table, her face on and a martini ready for her husband when he gets home from a long day smoking in his office. She cooks in heels, too. I'm sure of it. She also looks like she repairs trucks. Big trucks. Also in heels.
Making candy is a lot more intense than making cookies or cakes. There is science happening right before your eyes and there is an exciting element of danger. If you don't follow the directions exactly, a disaster beyond your wildest dreams may occur. An explosion even! Do not even think of boiling the caramel (no stirring!) until exactly 250 degrees is reached. Then and only then are vanilla and butter added. It is like a chemistry experiment. The mixture froths and bubbles and hisses and and that delicious smell of burnt sugar and caramelized butter perfumes the kitchen. Success! I completely forgot I was cranky. I felt like putting on a face and getting a martini ready for my husband. Forget the heels, though. Betty is on her own there.
As the caramel cools, I start making the dough for the chocolate cookies. I am kind of a cocoa powder snob. No Nestle cocoa powder for me. I love the cocoa from a Dutch company called Droste. Their cocoa is a deep dark brown color, compared to the grayish color of Nestle, and when mixed with liquid, it turns almost black. The smell of the cookie dough is deeply chocolatey and rich with butter.
I love cutting out cookies. Cut out cookies require so much work, but they are so satisfying to make. There are so many steps...the dough making, the chilling of said dough, the rolling out, the cutting into shapes, the baking and, Oh Mercy Me, the amazing scent that fills your house. And then there is the sharing. 90% of the reason I bake is so I can share it with others. The other 10% is to bask in the glory of my creation. No, just kidding, it's to avoid job hunting!
On thing I love about my husband, Aaron, is that he always knows the answer. if I need to know how to spell a word, Aaron knows. If I am not sure if my shoes are the right choice for my outfit, Aaron knows. If I can't remember that Shakespeare quote or if I want to know, real quick, what 35 x 420 is, Aaron just freaking knows. When I was done making the cookies, I handed him one to try. I felt like they were good, but not over-the-top-delicious. He took a bite, thought for a minute, and suggested adding sea salt to the caramel. It was a genius idea. So good, in fact, that when my friend Margie asked me for an idea for a cookie exchange party, I had the perfect recipe. We had a wonderful day making them together at her house. We even made candies out of the left over caramel. It didn't matter that it took us 5 hours to make 30 cookies, we were bakers and candy makers and we were using fleur de sel in our confection! Mais oui! We felt wild. And we were.
I still wake up in the night and imagine the perfect job landing in my lap. I think it's good to visualize it as something easy and light. I also know it will come. I have also changed my mind about the kind of metaphorical chocolates I am getting. All the "chocolates" in my life are delicious. Some more than others, but the fruit nougat makes me appreciate the scotchmallow all the more. I'm lucky to have the time right now to bake. It does not escape me that these moments are special. I am done whining. As Forrest said, "that's all I have to say about that."
No comments:
Post a Comment