Lessons Learned in a Hurry, part 1

My life has been lived in a raging hurry the last few weeks.  Catching up at work from a vacation. Running to various doctor appointments. Getting kids ready for, and off to, summer camp. Fighting with the ex. Yard sales. Curriculum fairs. And a multitude of other activities. And it hasn’t ended yet. But that’s a topic for another day.

Today’s topic is a couple of odd things that have happened as a result of my recent perpetual hurry. Just because they are funny stories. And, of course, there’s a lesson in them — because what’s life without a lesson or two?

The first odd thing is small. The dessert that sort of failed. I’m on a low-carb diet, which means that desserts are few and far between. But I’ve found this one dessert that I can have daily to satisfy the sweet tooth without blowing the diet or messing with my blood sugar. It’s a gelatin dessert. Made with tea and cream. It’s very tasty.

So I was making up a large batch the other night, but it was late and I was tired and in a hurry. I mixed the gelatin into the hot tea very thoroughly. But I didn’t mix the cream in thoroughly enough. As became evident when I took one of the dishes out of my lunch bag and my dad said, “What ARE you eating?” Because, instead of looking like a light, lemon-coloured cheesecake, it looked like … well …

Have you ever made chicken stock?

You know how, after you strain the hot stock into a dish and refrigerate it, you get this murky greyish-brown layer of gelatinous stock, with a bright yellowish-white layer of fat on top? Yeah. That’s what my dessert looks like. Unclarified, fat-topped chicken stock. (Still tastes good, though!)

That’s what hurry will get you when you’re mixing cream and gelatin. An unappetizing-looking mess. It still tastes good, but it’s hard to get past the appearances.

Tags: Diet, food, humour, Low-Carb, Philosophy, stress, True Stories