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My Sunday was a wash of a weekend day because Saturday night our water heater flooded our downstairs. So instead of getting to sleep in, I had to call my dad very so he could come over and fix it (thank god for daddies, huh?) and we could turn our water back on. Then, Alex's mom came over and we went shopping for Christmassy stuff for our house. "We," being just her and me. (She and me? She and I? I need to consult my copy of Eats, Shoots, and Leaves...) It was kinda weird, but we did end up with some pretty things with which to decorate our 3-foot table top tree.

Anyway, Alex randomly had off today, and so to make off for my loss of a nice, relaxing weekend, I took a sick day today...

*cough. cough.*

It ended up being a perfect day. Slept in a little, watched my DVR'd season finale of Survivor: China while Alex slept in even later, I made cookie dough for my cookie swap later this week, we played some Guitar Hero, made a killer lasagna, and Alex did the dinner dishes, and now we're sitting on the couch with full bellies and some wine and a fire in the fireplace and the dog's not being too annoying (yet) and we're about to watch Superbad (for the second time today), and the house isn't too much of a mess, and ahhhhh...

I needed this day.

Rugel-ugh

I decided to try to bake this rugelach recipe for my grandma, who is in the hospital and whose birthday was yesterday. I bought all the ingredients with full realization that we don't own a KitchenAid mixer, or a food processor or even a hand beater. Pft. Before there was electricity, people didn't make their rugelah with electronic mixers! I thought. Except, well, it turns out it was haaaaard to mix the cream cheese and butter and sugar and flour all into a dough-- especially when the only mixing device I actually own is a rubber spoonula. Also? The rolling out was not so easy, as I have no rolling pin. I tried to use the rod from our paper towel holder, but that just stuck to the dough. I had more success with a drinking glass, though I kept having fear that I was pressing too hard and that the glass was going to crush under the pressure, leaving tiny shards of glass in the dough and my hands. It didn't.

Additional snag, I sort of forgot to read ahead. After I mixed the dough, it had to chill in the fridge for a couple hours. Oh well, I thought. I'll have them in the oven by 10, and they only take 20 minutes to bake. Except after I rolled out the dough and put on the filling and rolled the whole thing up, I got to the part in the recipe where it says, "Chill for another hour." Hm. Well, I guess I can just slice and bake in the morning. That won't be so hard. So here I am this morning, ready to heat up the oven and slice my rugelah and be all Suzie Homemaker (for a change), and then I get to the line in the directions where it says, "lay cookies on parchment paper."

Foiled again.

So now it's about time for me to leave for work, and I have no parchment paper. It turns out I will NOT be baking rugelach this morning, or, for that matter, until I update my baking too supply.

Tasting

I've mentioned my feelings about cooking before. I don't mind doing it, but I don't love it either. This is mostly because of the clean-up factor and because I've never cooked anything that tasted better than something I could get in a restaurant (which has the added bonus of me getting served and not having to do dishes).

Anyway, I'm not a terrible cook, but I always seems to have minor issues along the way. I would like to submit the two most recent to you for further evidence that I should not bother cooking.

Reason the First: I decided to create my own risotto recipe last night. I melted some butter in the pan, added garlic and parsley, and toasted the arborio. Then, I went to add a splash of red wine, except I wasn't expecting the loud sizzle that was created when the wine hit the pan, and so it scared me and I jumped and I spilled a ton of wine into the rice and all over my stovetop. The risotto ended up coming out Just Okay.

Reason the Second: The night before, I hosted a Tastefully Simple party. (Yes, Christine you are right-- I have become total suburban housewife. Whatever. Free stuff.) All the recipes are simple enough, and the Banana Rum Cheese Ball was something easy like, "Add cream cheese to Packet 1. Stir until blended. Chill. Roll into ball. Roll ball into contents of Packet 2." Nothing about it except cutting the block of cream cheese required any measurement or anything! But you see, I made another recipe in the bowl before the Banana Ball, and so after I washed it out, I forgot to dry it, and then when I tried to mix the cream cheese with the flavoring packet, the mix came out all clumpy and gooey, and refrigerating it never really made it harden, and instead of a Banana Rum Cheese Ball, I made a Banana Rum Cheese Blob. It still tasted the same.

See? Minor catastrophes, I suppose, but I would be SO into a personal chef.

*****

There are two guys here setting up Alex's pool table today. I offered them coffee, and one guy asked for black, which is easy, but the other guy asked for "light and sweet," and since I usually use Splenda, not sugar, I wasn't sure how sweet was sweet and how light was light, and so after I made his coffee, I tasted it. I tasted his coffee from the cup I used to serve it in. To the pool table guy. I tasted the pool table guy's coffee right from his cup. And then I gave it to him with my germs on it. I tried not to backwash.