Kitchen Tragedies and an Easy Feel-Good Craft

NOTE: This post was written a while ago and left to ferment, much like the bread starter. :)

Tragedy. I thought it might be too strong a word, but you'll find it fits.

First, the Amish Friendship Bread.

A few days ago (10), a fellow dog-walker said, "You bake, right?" When I realized she wasn't joking, my pride jumped in and said, "Sure." Aforementioned smile oozed right off my face when she told me to "wait right here" and returned with a bag of brown goo. It was starter for Amish Friendship Bread. The friend part (or foe--it depends on your perspective) is that you work this starter for 10 days, and on the final day you divide the starter into four bags, keep one to make the bread, and terrorize three neighbors by handing out the additional starter.

2010 Friendship Bread Starter Photo by
Carroll Pellegrinelli, licensed to About.com

For five days, you smush the starter, hoping to rid the world of tiny bubbles that form in the bag. On day six, you add ingredients. Smush, smush, smush until day 10, when you bake the bread.

Sticking to this kind of project is almost my worst nightmare. The worst nightmare came true when I knocked the bag off the counter and it splattered on the floor. No bread for you! (Said in the voice of Seinfeld's Soup Nazi.)

The up side is I got the mess cleaned up before Buster licked it up. Bubbles and Buster equals horrendous gas, which doesn't bother him half as much as it bothers the hubby and me.

Second, the Mexican Spaghetti. I was attempting to be creative, okay? Trying to keep the Man from coming home to another dinner of bacon, hash browns, and eggs. I love a bacon, hash browns and egg dinner. It's really easy. Still, I have to admit that it's missing something important. Like veggies. (I don't think hash browns count, except when I say they do.)

I had ground turkey, pasta, a small bag of frozen onions and red peppers and (I think) pineapple that I didn't use in something or other. I cooked it all together along with a package of taco mix and some water, added cooked noodles, and then topped it with cheddar cheese. It looked beautiful, like something out of a Taste of Home cookbook.

Riddle me this. Why aren't taco's too spicy, but Mexican Spaghetti is? I think the tomatoes and lettuce on the tacos cut the heat. I got heartburn just looking at dinner. I should have gone in for the Girl Scout Chili. (Chili served on Fritos.) But the hubby loved it, and that's what counts. He gets leftovers tonight. I'll have...bacon and hash browns and eggs.

I did manage to find a little joy today.
I made my very own sachet! (And a rhyme!)

In the farmers co-op delivery, I received some lavender. I know you can eat it--somehow--but I decided to dry it instead. Okay. You caught me in a lie. I set it on the counter and forgot about it. When I went to move the pile of twigs, they fell apart. Completely dried out. So who says the glass is half empty? Not me! I transferred the lavender to a pretty bag I bought for 99 cents at the bead store. You just tighten the ties at the top and Taa-daa! Your very own sachet!

Here are the mesh bags I used from Oriental Trading Company.

Bags from Oriental Trading

So the moral is, if you can't make something good to eat, at least you can surround yourself with lovely smells.