Friday, December 17, 2021

Domestic Goddessing As Pre-Christmas Trauma Treatment and Prevention


I have been busy today, y'all. By noon I had filled up the biggest bowl in the kitchen with fruitcake batter. There is a pound of butter along with ten eggs in that bowl, also flour, baking powder, sugar, eight cups of pecans, vast quantities of candied fruits and citrus peel, and all my hopes and dreams. 
I had to mix all of the batter and fruit and nuts together with my hands because I think a wooden spoon might have broken from the sweet, dense weight of it all. 

I ended up with one giant fruitcake, one medium fruitcake, and one small fruitcake. 


Due to quality control issues, I sliced into the small one and sampled a bit. It is terrific. Far better than Costco's. I gave Mr. Moon a small slice too and he proclaimed it the only fruitcake he's ever eaten that he liked. 
So there we go. 

Besides making fruitcake, I also made a pot of black bean soup because I've been craving it and that takes a lot of slicing and sauteeing and blah, blah, blah. It's worth it. And that is still simmering. I need to pickle the onions to go with it but that will just take a few minutes. 
And of course it being Friday I've done two loads of laundry and washed the sheets. This job would be a lot easier if I did not insist on sleeping with five pillows. Mr. Moon only has three. It's ridiculous. But, like the soup- worth it in my estimation. There is nothing so delicious as laying in bed, propped up by my pillows, reading a good book. Especially when the sheets are clean. 

I got a bit more done on Maggie's nightgown. I do so much love to sew even though I am not really very good at it and do not have a natural knack for it. I have to use patterns and I'll tell you why- I have no ability to visualize how a garment comes together. If I had to sew a pair of pants without a pattern it would take me perhaps days to figure that out, even though I have sewn many pairs of pants (with patterns) in my lifetime and I know it's simple. I get stuck on things like pinning things together to make them come together correctly. For example- I have finished the yoke of the garment and constructed the main part of it with the sleeves. Now comes the part where the front and back of the gown get attached to the yoke. 



It is almost impossible for me to visualize how this works. It's hard to explain. I don't think I have any spatial abilities. But I'm not at all sure that's the word I'm looking for. I'm just no good at figuring out how things fit together and it's only getting worse in my old age. Whether it's the grater blades for the food processor or a toy that needs fixing or a nightgown, I struggle. 
And yet, when it comes to cooking, that comes to me as naturally as breathing. I simply know what will taste good with what and am generally good with amounts, too. I bet you that when I make rolls or meatballs, if weighed after I formed them, they would be practically identical. My hands can feel the weight of them fairly accurately. I can eye teaspoons and tablespoons in the palm of my hand. I am not bragging in the least here. Anyone who is a good cook knows exactly what I am talking about and yet I am aware that there are some people who must have a recipe and follow it the way I must have a pattern and follow that. 
But back to my original statement- despite my handicaps in the sewing department, I do truly enjoy the whole process. There is something about it all that pleases me even though I sometimes (often) get frustrated and my seam ripper gets used far more than I would like it to. There is a sort of magic to it, just as in cooking, where diverse elements are joined together whether with thread or heat or whisk to create something which is far more than the sum of its parts. Useful, and sometimes beautiful, comforting both in the making of and in the consuming or wearing of, the creation of something that humans need and want- they soothe my soul. 

Here's a picture of Lily and Gibson that I love. 


She was helping at a party that Gibson's class was having. Oh, how lovely it is when children still think it's cool for Mama to come to school and do things. That time passes so quickly. 

Happy Friday, y'all. 

Love...Ms. Moon

35 comments:

  1. I knew your fruitcake would be divine! Bet your black cake will be too. What is the recipe like for the black cake?

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    1. There's a recipe on the NYT's app for a black cake and I'll probably combine that with some others online.

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  2. I remember in sewing class making a blouse. The sleeve went in so easily but come to find out it was the wrong end.

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  3. oh boy, have you been BUSY! And what fruitcake recipe did you use, pray divulge? I hear you on the *ability* to just wing it, as far as cooking,,,,,because you already know from experience *what* will happen. I cook like that too. Sewing,,,,,,love it, know it, but it is more precise and at times a pain in the ass having to be just so precise.
    Enjoy those clean sheets, and your Martini's!
    Susan M

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    1. PS. So you *did* use Mrs Harvey's recipe! Yummy looking, especially the large one. When you say quality control *issues***.....I trust it might have been the different types of pans that caused the hiccup? I'm glad you and Mr Moon are happy with them, I know everyone else will be too!
      Susan M

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    2. The "quality control" was a joke- I just wanted an excuse to taste the cake.

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  4. I'm with Susan M. would love to know the fruitcake recipe...They look beautiful!

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  5. That's some fruitcake! It looks wonderful. That spatial ability is a brain function. And experience helps it. But, like a sense of direction, it can't exactly be learned, just managed around. I use maps and directions to compensate for my total lack of directional sense. I always get where I need to be, but not instinctively.

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    1. LOL Boud! I believe I suffer from spatial *challenge* as well. I like that you said it just needs to be *managed*. Well put!
      Susan M

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    2. I have NO sense of direction, Liz. I navigate by landmarks if it's somewhere I've been before and I'm not even very good at that. ALTHOUGH I will say that the one place I'm pretty darn good at getting around in is in Indian River where Roseland and Sebastian and Vero Beach are which is quite strange because we moved from there when I was about 12 and of course had never driven there. I don't understand that.

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  6. Dennis had to tell the cost co folks that there are disappointed people from Bellingham all the way to Tallahassee. I must have your recipe! PLEASE!
    The thing about sewing is that fudging is rarely allowed, must be accurate, like carpentry. It gets me just about every time. I have ruined a lot of fabric.

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    1. I've fucked up some fabric in my life, too. It happens. And you're right- if you cut something wrong, especially, it can be impossible to go back and "fix it."
      Glad Dennis got the word out.

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  7. Scrumptious looking fruitcakes! Your family has the most radiant and joyous smiles! I love that photo of Lily and Gibson, matching smiles!
    Xoxo
    Barbara

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  8. That was a busy day. I have a terrible time understanding pattern instructions. I need to see how things go together, I can't just read about it and then figure it out, which is what makes quilting easier. Lots of you tube videos.

    That's a lovely photo of your daughter and grandson.

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    1. I have to read AND figure and still often make mistakes. I'm still struggling with yoke and bodice today.

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  9. The fruitcake sounds marvelous!!!

    I cannot sew after 7 PM. If I do I can guarantee that I will be seam ripping more than sewing. Even sew I have had to develop a zen attitude toward seam ripping. Accepting that it is part of the process.

    I do have excellent spatial abilities, but I still need patterns.

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    1. Yes. Seam ripping is not that horrible. It can be frustrating but you're right- it is part of the process.

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  10. Have you heard of a TV series that we have here from time to time called " Great British Sewing Bee" ? I think that you would love it.People compete to show their sewing skills .....one person out each week, etc! You should be able to find it somewhere... Utube maybe?

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    1. I have heard of that show and would love to watch it. So far it hasn't shown up here that I know of. I'm going to keep an eye out though.

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  11. Don't you just love being head of Quality Control!

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  12. Thank you for saving Christmas.

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  13. Quite the day, cooking, sewing, laundry. Definitely domestic goddess territory.

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  14. Those fruitcakes! Wow! Imagine your biceps and forearms got quite a workout mixing those ingredients.

    The photo of Lily and Gibson is pure love.

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    1. Nah, the batter wasn't that stiff. All that creamed butter and eggs...

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  15. Your fruitcake baking made me want some fruitcake myself. Maybe I'll take myself to Marks & Spencer and pick one up! Love the photo of Lily and Gibson.

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    1. I wonder if English fruitcake is like the fruitcake here. Report in, please, if you do get one.

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  16. I made gluten-free, dairy-free snickerdoodles yesterday which was a first for me. I am NOT a baker but wanted a treat for my daughter when she comes for Christmas. They turned out okay - not the best cookie I have ever eaten but a little yummy in their own way. Wow, faint praise in that last sentence!!
    Like the other Ellen said, you are a "domestic goddess" in my opinion too!

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    1. "...a little yummy in their own way." You're right! That's almost damning with faint praise as Will Shakespeare might have said. I bet they were delicious cookies.

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  17. I would love your black bean soup recipe, if ever you take a break from fruitcakes and sewing nightgowns.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.