apple cider revisited

In short, today was not a good day. It had bright spots to be sure, in fact most of the morning was fairly pleasant, but right after lunch my day took a nosedive straight into the cold hard ground. 

It seems there are more things that I did not accomplish today than things I did.

Really the crux of my downfall didn't come until right before dinnertime though. We were supposed to have small group tonight, and part of our small group is bringing a part of dinner. This week we were supposed to bring a side, and due to the utter unappetizing sound of hot dogs I decided to make macaroni and cheese - 3 cheese macaroni and cheese, not the kind from a box. 

I was trying a new recipe, but I wasn't worried about that part given my history with the cookbook.

Once I decided to make said recipe though, things turned interesting. As it turns out only 1 of the 6 closest grocery stores to us actually has fontina cheese (the third of my three cheeses) and I had to go to 3 of them before finding it. Therefore, I got home later than expected to prepare a dish that took longer than expected b/c of a number of predicaments. Namely these: I was doubling the recipe, but forgot to double the milk and butter; I didn't read the whole way through the recipe to the point it said you have to simmer the milk/butter concoction for 15 minutes before adding the cheese; I first oiled a pyrex dish that turned out to be too small; the preheated oven somehow got turned off in the middle of my stovetop cooking; the burner with the finished and drained macaroni somehow got turned on while I was making the sauce; many things spilled; the pan I was using for the sauce needs to be thrown away, and I know this because while I was whisking the milk/butter bits of paint started coming off of the bottom, and I had to pick them out with a spoon; in shredding the fontina cheese I shredded a small portion of the wax that comes with it (to hold its shape) as well; but the 2 biggest kickers in the whole endeavor were: #1 - we didn't end up going to small group b/c we were too worn out and would be too late by the time the macaroni & cheese finished so we now have about 10 extra servings in the fridge; and #2 - the finished product was pretty bland. 

While Peter is convinced that it would never be flavorful, I think if I had managed to read through the entire recipe, not rushed through it and did everything I was supposed to do, when I was supposed to do it, for as long as I was supposed to do it the dish would have turned out better. As it was I needed to add more fontina...

Many things have been overwhelming me lately, and today dinner was the straw (or straws given the above list) that broke me. I was so frustrated I had a short stint of sobbing after everything went to hell.

So, needless to say apple cider is being revisited tonight to wash down the day, and remind me that warmth and goodness are possible, even if they come simply packaged in a brown and yellow mug.

as the song goes:

tomorrow's another day

and I'm thirsty anyway

so bring on the rain