A post in which I maintain my sanity

And for today, that's saying a good bit. It has been an exceptionally tough month end.

Despite how tired I was I was up at quarter to 5 this morning. Worrying about desserts, plus looking forward to the camp out, has whipped up the insomnia. After trying for 45 minutes to go back to sleep, I just got up. I addressed the Mother's Day cards, except for one. I have to get a new address.

I actually got to work feeling pretty fat n sassy today. My desserts are going pretty well, my schedule for the week is laid out, and I got tons of work done yesterday. My official camp out song this year is Beyonce's Sugar Mama (I am, after all THE sugar mama for the camp out. I may not get to play with everyone there, but I can make sweet love to them all with my sugar bowl, baby!), and I grooved to it in the car all the way in. Sadly, my good mood didn't last for long.

I had intended to mail them from work today, but when I opened up my email, that Canadian bitch had taken a big dump in my inbox and I forgot all about the cards. I spent the morning doing her twit bidding, and arguing with IT about a report that is screwed up. About 2pm, I figured out the screwer-upper was in the credit department. My boss likes him. Good thing for him. I will reserve my opinion. For once. I was able to get it all straightened out and actually started digging myself out of the Hellacious Report Vortex this afternoon. I was really grateful for that.

I broke for lunch and talked to Anna a bit, which is always good for dramatic renewal of purpose. She's as interested in cooking as I am. She commiserated on the sponge cake story, and was encouraging about my chocolate fears.

On the way home from work, I figured out how to do things the easy way, and then relaxed. Tonight I'm making chocolate rice crispy treats with cocoa crispies and chocolate chips in them. That's for the chocolate people. I've learned not to try to be subtle or balance flavors for the chocolate people. All that really counts to them is how much chocolate you can possibly pile into a dessert. To that end, I wanted to dip the treats in melted chocolate when I got done and make those pretty "dip swirls" on them like the ones you see at the bakery. The problems were a) working with the double boiler with some expensive stuff that I really couldn't re-do if I screwed up; b) what the hell to put them in so they would stay fresh until Saturday night; and c) where to hide them to keep people out of them. I solved all three problems by just deciding to leave them in the pan and pour the chocolate over them. That eliminates the double boiler. I can melt the chocolate in the microwave just fine for that. If I leave them in the pan, they'll be easy to seal, store, and transport. Also, the chocolate will kind of help "seal" them to keep the cereal from getting stale. And if they aren't cut, that will keep little hedonist hands from getting in them before I'm ready to put them out. Most likely.

When I got home, I talked a bit to the new guy. He is nice. I hope we get to meet.

It rained cats and dogs at lunch, and again on the way home today. It has rained every day this week. I really hope things dry up in time for the weekend. Camping in the rain is yuckky. Any camping with the LOCK folks is good, but it's much better dry.

I ran by the post office on the way home and got all but one of the Mother's Day cards in the mail. That means I don't lose a day, since it would have taken them all day to get back to the main post office anyway.

Putting the treats together was really easy, but incredibly messy. I have never made them before. If you decide to try this, I highly advise buying stock in Pam. Spray your hands, your clothes, the counters, the mixing bowl, the utensils, and the pan. Spray everything you don't want rice crispy goo stuck to. Since I was making double batches, I had to get out the Big Bowl. It's a pain to wash, but when you need something washtub sized to mix in, it's pretty damn handy. I also had to go get more marshmallows. It takes a LOT of marshmallows. A pound for every six cups of cereal. A pound of marshmallows is a lot more than you would think. Almost two bags. Since I made two double batches, I used almost eight bags of marshmallows! They did turn out tasty, but really sweet. They won't last ten minutes once I put them out, but I called Billy and ran down what all I had made and he said we had plenty, which I'm sure we do. I just don't want anyone to be disappointed because they missed out.

I had a bite of supper, and then did the chocolate for the top. One pan is made with semi-sweet chips, and one with milk chocolate chips. They were then topped with semi-sweet and milk chocolate respectively. There ended up being almost two pounds of chocolate in each pan. That ought to hold my chocolate people :)

And HOORAY! I'm done!!

Hopefully I can sleep tonight. Of course I'll knock myself out Friday and Saturday, but it would be nice not to be a short-tempered zombie tomorrow at work. Tomorrow I get my hair did, and then toast coconut for the trifle and pack when I get home. One of the great things about doing the desserts is that since I get my work done the week before, I can pretty much relax and enjoy myself once I get there. And that's a good thing. Cause I need a whoopin'.