Mr. Boom and I are heading out in less than three hours for our weekend trip through the North Cascades. Mr. Boom, of course, finished packing his things last night. He's all set. He's ready to go.
Me, well, I'm not Mr. Boom, am I? He's the math major, I'm the anthropology major. Our weekend preparations directly illustrate our educations, I'm afraid! Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny may be disproved, but that doesn't threaten my statement one bit.
In order to prepare for our trip I am cleaning my espresso maker. Some people put on clean underwear in case they die in an auto accident. Me? I clean my espresso maker. Please Lord, don't let me die with a dirty espresso maker on my counter. I couldn't handle the shame...
In order to prepare for our trip I'm making croissants and pain au chocolate (chocolate-stuffed croissants). They're in our bedroom, raising in the heat that older homes are known for in the summer. This is Mr. Boom's dresser. You don't actually think there's room for this kind of thing on top of mine, do you?
I made a big batch of potato salad yesterday. I figure between the croissants, the potato salad and the car food, we should be good for three days. Right? Right?Car food. Dare I admit this to the world? I love Kraft cheese spread in the little jars spread on Triscuits when I'm in the car. This isn't something I'd be caught dead eating at home, but on a car trip it's a non-negotiable requirement. The cheese product (seriously, that's what it's called) is best bought in a gas station. Ideally the jar will be dusty and the label should have evidence of water damage. Like a fine wine, the yellow goo needs to age and have a good story behind it.
I've also made several jars of espresso, frozen solid, to which I'll add milk and call my morning latte. So. Potato salad, croissants, car food, espresso. Three days? No problem. I hope.
In order to prepare for our departure in less than three hours I'm checking on the bees. Because, you know, they're really going to be sad while we're gone. They're going to miss me a lot. Right?
Other items:
The trail cam did not catch sight of the cherry pit pooper last night. We'll set it up again when we return.
The grapes outside the kitchen door are beginning to look like grapes! Pretty!
No, I must get packing. Seriously. No excuses. Oh look! The kitties are being cute! Grab the camera!
kat.... Kat....KAT!!!!! What have you done? It's been many, many years since I've had (or even thought about) that Old English cheese. It's so awesome on Triscuits. Now you're going to send me out to the mini-mart to look for a jar. Have a great trip.
ReplyDeleteHey - a mathematician preparing for a trip is WAY better than an engineer preparing for a trip. Think all clothing sized and colorized, arranged in neat rows.
Hilarious! While I am not a cheese product connoisseur, I do appreciate an occasional heat-lamp fried burrito (or similar) on an occasional road trip. And I must say, while I think of myself as a very good planner of car food, I never thought of freezing some espresso for later. That is simply genius.
ReplyDeleteOMG. I just took another look at your espresso maker and realized we have the same one, except ours is red. Hah!
ReplyDeleteI'll have to try the frozen espresso for our next road trip. Have a lovely time!
ReplyDeleteSuzanne, a mini-mart is one step up from a supermarket, but one step down from a gas station. Just make sure the jar you find is weathered-looking!
ReplyDeletePaperseed, I LOVE the red version, but at the time it was $50 more than silver, and I'm such a cheapskate! David Lebovitz has a red one, too, and I lust after it. And his apartment in Paris. And his boyfriend...
Kate, the frozen espresso trick works great! Not only does it help keep the cooler cooler (okay, how weird does that phrase look?), but mornings seem much brighter! Just remember to keep the milk separate until you're ready to imbibe. It's much better that way.
Seriously. You only need one person in a relationship to do the packing. The other needs to be the flake. It doesn't work otherwise. I'm counting on it.
ReplyDeleteUhmmm "cheese-product" I think that says car food to me. I remember the first time I was asked at a New York City fast food (pancake) "restaurant" if I wanted "whipped-edible-oil-product" on my pancakes I asked "Has anybody ever say YES?" this was on my first trip to North America it was a real eye-opener for me.
ReplyDeleteIn Australia we have cocktail hot dogs (coloured a vivid red) that are served with a sauce whose main ingredient is "red food colouring" it is one of my guilty pleasures at parties.
I hope the trip goes superbly for you.
And thank you for the wonderful comments you left on my blog. Cheers from Audax in Sydney Australia.