Vol. 1 because, I suspect, there will other “DAYS!!!” and there will be future volumes.
Some days you know you will be busy. Today was such a day but I was prepared. Two days before the official Thanksgiving holiday and one day before our small Thanksgiving with Mom. Mom doesn’t like to have me fuss in the kitchen and to make her happy I buy a lot of already prepared food: turkey roast, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, all ready to heat and eat. One tradition we have is Sweet Potato Pie. My family has lived in the same county in Mississippi since 1833 and a holiday just isn’t complete without Sweet Potato Pie. So I decided I would bake the pie this year and also make Mom’s favorite lime jello/condensed milk/pineapple “congealed salad”, as they say where she comes from. First a manicure and pedicure. Then a haircut and blowout. A trip to Trader Joe’s to buy everything for the salad recipe which my Thanksgiving hostess said would be at TJs and buy the frozen mashed sweet potatoes for the pie. Last stop would be Von’s Market to pick up everything else. Busy day, yet well thought out plan. So far so good. Then I left the house.
First stop was a manicure and pedicure. The manicure was almost done as I sat with my left hand under the lights letting the final coat of gel polish harden. Tina had gone into the back to get supplies for the pedicure and I was reading a book on my phone when I heard the salon owner yell, “Tina, there’s water everywhere!” Tina had been sanitizing the spa sink for the pedicure and accidently left the stopper closed. Water was pouring over the edge of the basin, all over the floor, around the chairs, and under the styling stations. Tina came running, almost slipping on the wet floor, and turned off the water. One good thing was in a salon there are plenty of towels to handle the clean up. The rest of the appointment went smoothly.
I had about 30 minutes before my haircut appointment at another salon, so I made a stop at Trader Joe’s to pick up items for the sweet potato pie and the salad I am taking to Thanksgiving dinner. Error one – I didn’t have the salad recipe with me. Error two – they were completely out of the cooked and mashed sweet potatoes I was going to use. Donovan checked the computer for me and declared that there won’t be any more mashed sweet potatoes until next season. What? There is a season on sweet potatoes? Ugh. OK, I’ll make the pie the old fashioned way. Add another step to the day. Go home and look up a recipe.
Next stop – haircut. The salon seemed quite serene and there was a good reason – POWER FAILURE. Stephani could wash and cut my hair but not do the blow out. No problem. I was already there. Go ahead and cut it and I can stop home before doing the rest of my shopping. We chatted. She cut. I left, thinking I would go home and style my hair before I went to the market. But, of course, I forgot all about that and went directly to the market with damp hair getting fuzzier by the minute. I shopped, looking slightly demented and unkempt. Sometimes Von’s has frozen sweet potato pies but no luck in that area today. Then reading my list without thinking about what had happened at Trader Joe’s I went ahead and bought the heavy cream that the TJ’s recipe called for.
Finally I got home and started to make the congealed salad. Lime jello dissolved in hot water. Add cold water, add pineapple, add miniature marshmallows, and add evaporated milk. The milk looked a little thick. I was pouring sweetened condensed milk into the mixture, not evaporated milk. Well, too late to fix it. I mixed it up and put it in the fridge. If it gels I will cut it into slices and if it doesn’t gel it will be served in bowls.
Later today I will make a sweet potato pie – from scratch, although I did buy prepared pie crusts. I’ll buy the items for the salad, and remember to pick up a turkey roast for tomorrow. Maybe I’ll take hubby with me. I think I need a Handler today, or a Personal Assistant. What do you think?
What about you? Do you ever have one of those days?
Every Day Is A Good Day. VJ
Later in the day. . . . . . . .I waited a while and went back to TJ’s WITH the salad recipe and picked up everything – at least for the salad. Came home and started making the pie. Goof 1 – the recipe called for half and half or evaporated milk, but I had bought heavy cream for the original recipe. Oh well, give the cream a try. Goof 2 – the pie recipe calls for 2 egg whites, beaten with sugar until stiff, folded into the sweet potato batter. The egg whites would not whip up. Maybe I got a bit of yolk in them? I mixed them in anyway and baked the pie. It looks ok. Maybe I have created a new recipe. I will let you know. VJ
everydaywithvj 