Being Responsible is Not Much Fun.

I'm kind of failing this whole craft/food blog thing. And that's because I got a job. The trade off is that now I have money to pay for the craft habit, but I have much less time to indulge in crafting. I know, I should go eat some cheese with my whine, but such is life.

This isn't to say that I haven't been making things. I have! I started working on a case for the hookah the Gentleman in Question and I made, but discovered that I don't really possess the skills to make it. That whole endeavor was permeated with failure. My fatal mistake was trying to make a mock up with stiff paper. I'll try muslin next. But there was much swearing at the sewing machine.

I also made faux Girl Scout cookies. I have no pictures because it was labor intensive and required both hands. If I'd had a third, it would have been perfect. First, you make the sugar/shortbready cookie. Then you top it with peanut butter and sugar. Then you dip the whole shebang in melted and tempered chocolate. Tempering chocolate in our kitchen is incredibly difficult. I need a better thermometer. And a colder kitchen. The temper wasn't perfect, but it was good enough for the office.

So I brought them into work, and got decidedly mixed reviews. Apparently, the people I work with are sugar fiends. I used semisweet chocolate, and the main complaint was that the chocolate was too bitter. My baking style does not match with the office at all. I've never used milk chocolate as a baking ingredient in my life! And I certainly don't think of semisweet chocolate as bitter. These folk should taste the 54% chocolate I have hanging out in my cabinet. It's super bitter. I'm supposed to make fake Samoas this weekend. Those are even more labor intensive, so a roommate is definitely going to have to help. And while I think they'll be delicious, I'm not thrilled with the fact that my office mates won't like them.

The theme of this past week: under-appreciation of homemade things, and also failure at creating them. The bright spot: I got my Netflix for Wii disk in the mail, so I should be getting some more knitting time in. And there will be pictures.