I'm impatient

The one thing I generally hate most about some recipes is when they call for something to "sit" or "freeze" for like an hour or five.  I'll admit, I'm a total product of my generation - instant gratification is the name of my game.  Pizza rolls, frozen dinners, those are my homemade meals of choice.  Why?  Because it takes about 3 minutes tops.  Even when I make chicken tenders or fries in the oven I hate that I have to wait 20 minutes before I can eat it.  I guess I'm just used to being on the go or eating late, in either case I generally don't have the time or the energy to eat or prepare anything that takes too much time.  Don't get me wrong, I appreciate a good "real" homemade meal, but for me to cook it for myself as a party of one requires me to be in the right mood and have enough time to do so.

So now I'm being a hypocrite and make Dulce de Leche at 10:30 at night, which requires me to essentially bake milk for an hour.  I'm hoping this stuff turns out - I'm trusting the recipe I found on a blog (here).  We shall see.  I don't even really know where you'd go to find dulce de leche in a store, I've never really used it before.  Apparently all you need to make it at home is an oven-proof bowl, a bigger bowl for a water bath, a can of sweetened condensed milk and aluminum foil (which I totally forgot...eff...brb!)

K, done.  Putting aluminum foil on an already hot bowl = not fun, but got it done anyway.  So to fill the next 50 minutes I have before this thing is done in the oven, I thought I'd share something my mom sent to me.

In my last (well, first) entry I mentioned how horrid my kitchen looks during State Fair time.  As it turns out, my mother has first-hand photographic evidence.  I believe these were taken around 2005 or 2006.

 

Overview of Kitchen

 Counter #1: Items that are ready to go (Halloween cookies and Irish Whiskey Bread)

 (Table that doubles as) Counter #2: Tag organization and frosting station

 Counter #3: Oven and cooling area (doesn't really make sense, I know, but it worked)

 Counter #4: Sink, drying and covering station

If I remember correctly, these were taken somewhere around the height of the Fair-time baking frenzy.  As much as my mom would probably disagree with this, I do truly try to clean up around the area when I finish making one or all of my dishes for the day.  If I have to run out the door right as I finish, then yes, obviously the cleaning will be postponed.  But I do know that preparing food in a dirty kitchen is not only counter-productive, but can also be dangerous.  I try to at least keep the countertops and main equipment clean (I generally leave out things I use frequently, like aluminum foil, saran wrap, etc.) and give myself enough room to do whatever I need to.

Well, I'm about done here for the night.  Have about half an hour left on the dulce de leche, so we'll see how it turns out and I'll post about it tomorrow!