0 Alpineberry Shares

My baking buddy, the talented Veronica of Veronica's Test Kitchen, tagged me for the 5 things meme and I'm finally getting around to putting my list together. Maybe you've been dying to know more about what makes me tick (doubtful) or maybe this could be TMI* (likely). So read at your own risk.

1. I am a yeast virgin. Even though I bake a lot, I have never used yeast. I've never made brioche, croissants, bread, or focaccia from scratch. I've used (scientific grade) yeast in the lab for experiments but that doesn't really count, does it? If it does count then this will be only 4 things about me. I plan to explore the realms of baking with yeast and, if successful, you'll probably hear about it.

2. My husband and I make worm poop. No, not for a living and not literally. We are vermicomposters. Vermicompost, or worm casings, is a nutrient-rich, natural fertilizer and soil conditioner. Well, the truth is, he's the vermicomposter and I just reap the benefits of an organically enriched garden. Have you seen the March issue of MSL? Martha has a perfect pretty little kitchen nook for her bin of worms. Oh, that bee-yotch! She has to be so perfect all the time. (As much as I love her, I sometimes just have to playa-hate a little). Meanwhile, our bin lives in the garage bathroom shower stall (which we never use – I mean the stall not the garage). When my husband first set up the worm bin, the worms tried to make a break for it. Apparently their new home was not to their liking, so they tried to escape. I can't imagine what hundreds of worms jumping, or is it crawling, out of a lidded bin must have looked like, but I'm so glad I wasn't home to see that.

3. I have silicone implants..........in my eye! I have a condition called chronic dry eye. My ophthalmologist closed the opening to my tear ducts by inserting tiny silicone plugs which are supposed keep the small amount of tears that I do make from draining away.

4. The last non-food related book I read was The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. It was recommended to me by a friend after I complained to her about the time / space inconsistencies in the Keanu Reeves Sandra Bullock movie The Lake House. I can never really wrap my brain around the whole concept of time, space and multiples of myself existing at the same time but in different "times". I think I first had an issue with it when I saw Back to the Future (the first one) and Marty comes back to the present from the past (or is it goes back to the future from the present?) and he sees his other self disappear and go to the past. Then there was Kate and Leopold with Sally and the Wolverine-cum-aristocrat. I mean, he goes to the future and the past has changed because he never did all the things he was supposed to do. But if she goes back to the past how will he have met her in the future so she could go back? And yes, I know, it seems that everything I know about time travel I learned from the movies but that's why I'm mentioning the book. Duh.

5. Back in 1989-1990 Saturday Night Live had a sketch called "Cooking with the Anal-Retentive Chef" featuring the late Phil Hartman as Eugene. I'm not so extremely anal-retentive in the kitchen that I can't complete my tasks like Eugene, but I do take a bit longer than necessary since I can't be messy while I cook or bake. I can’t not tidy up as I go along. I thoroughly clean my Kitchen Aid stand mixer after every use and I have been known to wrap my trash before tossing it into the waste can.

I'm not sure how long this meme has been going around and I'm not sure if you've already been tagged but I'm passing this along to:

Bron at Bron Marshall
Ellie at Kitchen Wench
Jenny at All Things Edible
JenJen at Milk and Cookies
Patricia at Technicolor Kitchen

*TMI= too much information