I planned out a segment of time while Libby napped on Tuesday to create my little treats. I'm not as speedy with the prep work as a chef, so I knew it would take me a bit longer to make them than it had Ina Garten, better known as "The Barefoot Contessa." So I also knew that I would have to put off some other things that I might have otherwise taken care of that day, during that nap (like, say, vacuuming or working on Libby's Christmas stocking.) I made a little substitution, switching the recommended all-purpose flour for whole wheat flour (something I often do in making banana bread and the like). I juiced and zested oranges, diced butter, used my wonderful pink Kitchen Aid stand mixer, made a mess on my counters with the flour, cut out my little scones in cute little star shapes and popped them in the oven.
While they baked up to perfection, I cleaned up, took care of a few other little things and made the orange frosting to drizzle on top when they were cool.
Ding! Out of the oven they came, looking lovely. They cooled. I frosted. Then, instead of waiting to fix tea, I thought I'd just have a quick taste. I held my lovely close to my nose to smell that fresh-baked, citrus-y scent and bit off an arm of the star, ever so gently.
As Michael would say, "BLICK, BLICK!!!" They were terrible. I didn't cry, but I was pretty disappointed with my wasted time, effort and money. I decided though, that perhaps they were worth another taste later, perhaps by my mom the next day before I tossed them completely. I popped them in a plastic zip-lock container and put them on the rear of the stove.
You guessed it. I turned on the wrong burner when I started fixing dinner and the container melted away, my scones and the air reeking and tasting of melted plastic.
Michael says that I subconsciously destroyed them.
As for the spiders...
Yesterday, Libby and I are bopping along, her on my hip, getting some things done around the house when we head to the laundry room. I glance down at the little mat at the door heading to the garage and see a little spider. She's clearly not doing well, and as we bend down to get a little closer look, this is what we see...
YIKES! NOT the Halloween surprise I had in mind.
It was clearly dying, but I'd prefer not to see one at all. And certainly no where near my baby or dog. Or me. Or Michael. I made sure that I killed the spider though and got her far away from the house. And though the pest control was obviously working since the spider was practically dead anyway, I made an appointment for them to come out again - just in case! And I looked up what to do about black widow bites. I wasn't super comforted about my little girls and the possibility of one of them getting bitten, though. I'm still getting the chills writing about it and I may have had a minor breakdown last night after I told Michael what we'd discovered during the day.
I have high hopes that the next week is very eventful for a number of reasons - but hopefully the bad stuff is over with!
Yikes is right! How scary is that? And with Libby and the Commish both being so attentive to anything that moves, wow! Sorry about the scones. I know how it is when you try a recipe and then it turns out not be as great as we expect. How disappointing. But Michael is probably right about how they were destroyed! Blick, blick indeed!
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