Sunday, July 29, 2012

"Smooth Move, Exlax"

That's what we'd say to each other in grade school when we screwed up. Yesterday I was batting 1000, it seemed.

1. Even after the neighbour recommended it before I started, I forgot to run the shelf boards through the joiner before cutting the biscuit slots. (Recutting the biscuit slots afterward, several slots ended up wider due to not being lined up the same.)

1b. (I forgot to include this the first time.) Also, for some reason, the joiner wasn't cutting right up against the guide. Instead of figuring out why, I decided to just hold the board upright away from the guide. Apparently I didn't hold it quite correctly, because there's a bit of a gap on one side of the shelf. (Oh well... it's my first biscuit-joining effort, and it'll be hidden in a closet. It's functional.)

2. I put on the glue, got the boards together, *then* went to look for the clamps... and found that only one was wide enough. (At a bare *minimum*, I needed at least two.) Luckily a neighbour came to the rescue. (I just got an e-mail from my uncle... there should have been 2-4 pipe clamps, but I guess I wasn't looking in the right places. That's what happens when you've already spread the glue on a hot day, and are paranoid it'll dry before you get things clamped.)

3. I'm sure I saw painter's pyramids at Home Depot the other weekend when I was there, but I didn't buy any because I assumed my uncle's workshop would have them. When I went to buy them last night, I couldn't find them, and the store employee didn't know about them. *sigh* (To make it worse, my mom was *at* Lee Valley on Friday, and asked me beforehand if there was anything I wanted! Lee Valley is closed on Sundays.)

4. I baked cupcakes last night. As I was assembling the ingredients (*after* going grocery shopping), it occurred to me to check the expiry date on the baking powder: two years out of date. I decided to continue anyway (the stores were closed, and I had already started)... thankfully they turned out fine anyway.

5. After the batter was ready, I went to get the cupcake tins out... and realized I hadn't checked for the cupcake liners before grocery shopping. Thankfully I *found* them... sadly I was five short. (Out of two dozen needed.) I took a gamble and put the batter directly in the non-stick tin for those five. So far, my two attempts at getting them out have resulted in the top coming off separately, and the bottom coming out in crumbs. (Yum... being forced to eat "damaged" cupcakes!) Thankfully 19 is still plenty to bring in to work on Monday. (There will be enough for everyone to have at least one.)

6. After putting the batter directly in the tin, it occurred to me I could have cut circles out of wax paper to put in the bottom.

7. When I woke up this morning, I realized I could have *made* liners by squishing circles of parchment paper into the tin.

I will console myself on my stupidity by eating three more crumbled cupcakes. (At least there's an upside to my stupidity, this time.)

2 comments:

Catlady said...

Argh!!! One of my pet peeves... "expiry dates"...

In rare cases (medicines) it is true that the expiry date is crucial - but even those are cautiously added.

When it comes to foodstuffs - the date is well in advance of the true shelf life, to cover the butt of the manufacturer/supplier. It is entirely possible to have an item go bad well before the date, as well as to survive well after it. (My record was two months past date milk - still fine!! Yet other milk I've had barely made it to the date, if not spoiled before). If the baking powder still does its job, it is fine.

Too much food is wasted because some people throw it out on the day printed as "BEST BEFORE" - which means, just that -it is at its best before that date, but it doesn't automatically die the next day - especially if stored properly!

A good link to explore:
http://www.stilltasty.com/

Ok. Rant over. :) Nice looking cupcakes!!

noricum said...

Baking soda doesn't expire (although it can pick up smells), but apparently old baking powder doesn't rise as well. I suspect it has something to do with absorbing moisture?