Random Notes From a Busy Day
Nov. 24th, 2008 07:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
daidoji_giseiI am drinking wine and posting to my LJ after a hard day at work. This is possibly a very bad idea, but that is one of the reasons that I have a paid account--to remind myself that this is my journal and I can do whatever I want with it.
My workday started with the realization that the person who had day-baked on Sunday had forgotten that we had a special order for two kinds of cookie bars on Monday. I immediately set them to work making them, and hoped feverently that the customer wouldn't be in until after noon to pick them up. Meanwhile I started making challah and whole wheat dough for the holiday dinner rolls. (Firefox's spellchecker does not recognize 'challah' as word. This annoys me greatly, as it is one of the classic breads of the Western world.)
I knew that I was going to have a long hard day ahead of me (followed by more long hard days this week) and was inspired to sing. Then I remembered that singing in public branded me as a fool, so I stopped. Which was kind of a pity, as the chorus pretty much summed up how I felt about the day ("...I went to the rock, to hide my face, and the rock cried out no hiding place!...") but the tune is very bright and cheery. Which is somewhat creepy when one considers where I heard the song, but that just reminded me of how much I loved Babylon 5. I should watch it again sometime, now that I have a laptop. Someone in my circle must have it in their collection.
Around 12:30 I looked up at the clock and realized that...it was 12:30. This was surprising to me, as it meant that I had been working steadily for about 5 hours. That did explain the burning in my eyeballs--baking is thirsty work, and I tend not to stop for water when I'm feeling pressed for time. I shrugged and went on, because I was in the middle of portioning out the whole wheat dough for rolls, and if it was after noon the it was even more important that I keep moving. Writing it down now it occurs to me that some might find it strange that I wouldn't stop for a drink, but there it is. Once when we were watching Advent Children my friend Brent made the comment, "Cloud's really in the zone now; nothing much bothers him," and that is pretty much how I get when I am in Serious Baking mode. I didn't like the burning eyes, but they'd go away when I drank something and I'd drink something when I was done. Not that I am as badass as Cloud, but I bet you he couldn't make a loaf of bread to save his life, so whatever.
Somewhat after one pm Tara finished prepping the granola bars and was able to take over the whole wheat rolls, freeing me for lunch. The first thing I did was drink about a quart of water, so as to rehydrate my eyeballs. The burning got worse before it got better, but it did go away. In the meantime I entertained my staff with my ability to peel the skin off a pear with my eyes closed. Tara seemed astonished by it; I decided not to tell her that I had honed my sightless knife skills at home while chopping onions. (Onions affect me badly, and yet I am unwilling to give up cooking with them. But if you have a good knife and work patiently it is perfectly possible to chop them blind.)
There was more, but that will wait for another time. This is enough for now.
My workday started with the realization that the person who had day-baked on Sunday had forgotten that we had a special order for two kinds of cookie bars on Monday. I immediately set them to work making them, and hoped feverently that the customer wouldn't be in until after noon to pick them up. Meanwhile I started making challah and whole wheat dough for the holiday dinner rolls. (Firefox's spellchecker does not recognize 'challah' as word. This annoys me greatly, as it is one of the classic breads of the Western world.)
I knew that I was going to have a long hard day ahead of me (followed by more long hard days this week) and was inspired to sing. Then I remembered that singing in public branded me as a fool, so I stopped. Which was kind of a pity, as the chorus pretty much summed up how I felt about the day ("...I went to the rock, to hide my face, and the rock cried out no hiding place!...") but the tune is very bright and cheery. Which is somewhat creepy when one considers where I heard the song, but that just reminded me of how much I loved Babylon 5. I should watch it again sometime, now that I have a laptop. Someone in my circle must have it in their collection.
Around 12:30 I looked up at the clock and realized that...it was 12:30. This was surprising to me, as it meant that I had been working steadily for about 5 hours. That did explain the burning in my eyeballs--baking is thirsty work, and I tend not to stop for water when I'm feeling pressed for time. I shrugged and went on, because I was in the middle of portioning out the whole wheat dough for rolls, and if it was after noon the it was even more important that I keep moving. Writing it down now it occurs to me that some might find it strange that I wouldn't stop for a drink, but there it is. Once when we were watching Advent Children my friend Brent made the comment, "Cloud's really in the zone now; nothing much bothers him," and that is pretty much how I get when I am in Serious Baking mode. I didn't like the burning eyes, but they'd go away when I drank something and I'd drink something when I was done. Not that I am as badass as Cloud, but I bet you he couldn't make a loaf of bread to save his life, so whatever.
Somewhat after one pm Tara finished prepping the granola bars and was able to take over the whole wheat rolls, freeing me for lunch. The first thing I did was drink about a quart of water, so as to rehydrate my eyeballs. The burning got worse before it got better, but it did go away. In the meantime I entertained my staff with my ability to peel the skin off a pear with my eyes closed. Tara seemed astonished by it; I decided not to tell her that I had honed my sightless knife skills at home while chopping onions. (Onions affect me badly, and yet I am unwilling to give up cooking with them. But if you have a good knife and work patiently it is perfectly possible to chop them blind.)
There was more, but that will wait for another time. This is enough for now.
