Yesterday was a total write-off...and I mean that literally. I made some small corrections on the stuff I wrote Sunday--which only amounted to an additional 200 words for my NaNo count, so I didn't even post the numbers. It was one of those Life Gets In The Way days...which seems to be happening on a regular basis since November 1st.
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Early in the morning--before the day went careening downhill like a speeding roller coaster--I went online to find myself a new Betty Crocker Cookbook. Here's why:
I've had this cookbook since high school. I have lost most of the Index, have repeatedly taped the front cover back on, and many of the pages have torn away from the ring binding. Still. It's my most favorite cookbook in the world.
My staples, as far as the basics go, are the Meat Loaf, Pie Pastry and Chocolate Chip Cookie recipes. (Forget that "Original Toll House" recipe on the back of the choc chip package; Betty has it perfected.) Because I have made these cookies about 2.6 million times over the years, this is what the page looks like:
There's even a note scrawled in the upper left corner that says, "Greg loves 'em!" He was my high school boyfriend. This cookbook is a strange diary, of sorts, from my past lives.
So. Because it's truly on its last leg, I thought I would just order another one. Surely they still make this icon of cookbooks? Idiot girl. They have so moved on. I did manage to find a few for sale on a used book site, unfortunately my edition is now a collector's item and would cost anywhere from $120 (cheapest), to over $300 (ridiculous). And how much do I hate the fact my cookbook is now considered a collector's item??? Shouldn't that term refer to a Louis XV chair, or a Victorian fainting couch?? Surely it shouldn't relate to an item I've personally owned since it was brand new!!
Long story, short. I searched and searched, then read some reader comments on Amazon, and decided to jump ship. I am no longer a Betty Girl. I bought this instead:
I made this decision based on the plaid cover (original from eons ago), the Amazon comments on the excellence of recipes, and the fact it has a ring binder format, which is crucial to me. I really don't like how my other cookbooks have to be propped open with a bag of flour just to keep the recipe in view. It will be interesting to see if I will like this book, though I suppose if I don't, I've always got good ol' Betty to fall back on...and a fresh roll of duct tape.
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After ordering the book, doing my blog, and walking Oz up the road, instead of sitting down to write, as planned (and there's that bugger word again!!), Life stuck out a leg and knocked the whole day out from under me. Time was taken up by the dog, the garage floor, and a long sit in the emergency Eye Clinic while Alan had his eye taken care of. It had swollen shut, was bright red, and looked like it was going to explode out of his head. Eeeewwwww! I couldn't even look at him without my eyes watering. Totally gross, though surprisingly, it's nothing serious and he's now got the meds to fix it. By the time all the above had been taken care of, dinner finished and I could sit down to write...I couldn't. Frustration had set in, big time. I ended up escaping into a book.
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