wisdom of the ages - or something

Practice yesterday was about an hour. Decent balance, knee squishy. I enjoyed the bow pose because I discovered that the depth of the backbend can be controlled by the strength of the legs – and I had a little more strength in my legs yesterday than I’m used to, so I could really work the backbend. Moderately. No dizzies ;) (I know, I know, totally self-evident, but I'm a newbie.)

We all went shopping last night. Somewhat stressful, somewhat fun, and we managed. Bringing the family alleviates the guilt to a certain degree.

I think I’ll take Yogamum’s suggestion and indulge in a quick practice this afternoon, then take Duckie to the cake store with me to get some last-minute things. We’ll pick up Brian, go home, and spend some nice down time before she goes to bed and I start on the cheesecake.

I’m a little ahead of schedule. Since I have to take Duckie to her late-night bathroom break, I’m up ‘til 11 whether I want to be or not. Last night I had the second part of the carrot cake out of the oven by 10:45 (previously not scheduled until later this evening.) And it didn’t take but fifteen minutes or so to do the shortbread crust for the cheesecake.

Made-from-scratch sponge cake planned for tomorrow night. I’ve been told not to have anything going on in the house while it bakes – no traffic through the kitchen, no laundry, no dishwasher, to keep it from falling. Sheesh. And me, a multitasker. Well, hell, it’s only 25 minutes. I can be still for that long, surely.

It’s a fantastic thing to work with women who have been baking most of their lives. What little experience I have in cake-baking has been shored up by their knowledge. I got a recipe for an orange cream cheese icing for the carrot cake, as well as detailed instructions for mixing it, as well as things not to do. “The longer you beat it the thinner it gets,” said Mary Helen this morning.

Mom wasn’t much of a baker. I got maybe two recipes or meal ideas from her – a general idea of how to make pasgetti sauce, a killer recipe for sausage gravy, and a funky dish she called chicken scampi, even though there wasn’t any shrimp in it

So even though I didn’t learn from my natural mother, the wisdom is still there, just from different voices. I finally feel comfortable enough here (after 8 years) to ask for help and listen. It’s kinda cool – because it means that on some level, in some way, all of these women are my mothers.

*****

I have to admit that I spend entirely too much time wondering about how people managed before electric hand mixers. And how exactly they figured out that if you beat the shit out of a cake batter, it will rise better, or that if you beat cream or egg whites like there’s no tomorrow, you get whipped cream or meringue. Who thought this stuff up? Maybe I should take a closer look at the Gastronomique. Which is always fun, even if I don't find what I'm looking for.