I woke up rattled today. Nothing serious, just a little panicked about work, love, life, you know. Naturally, I did three feel-good things. I texted a genius haircutter who lets me come over at odd hours for long layers and dirty gossip; I took a deep breath and tried to be Buddhist (Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment); and I turned to the one outlet that’s better than any meditation, meds or morning sex…I sat Indian-style in bed with my favorite cookbooks, finding things to make. For me, the kitchen as a temple always involves baking. In theory, I should prefer cooking — I’m a thrill-seeker and a speed demon, I’m the opposite of detail oriented and things like rules and authority aren’t in my DNA. Yet in baking, my mind stays calm and focussed and it’s incredibly, transformatively zen. It’s my parent’s 35th anniversary tomorrow…a celebratory fete on many levels…so I made vanilla cupcakes from The Hummingbird Bakery cookbook. They were suppposed to be white-on-white, which is about as bridal as my body will allow, but my vanilla frosting lacked something as always. I just can’t get a good frosting down!! Now this is totally foodie-incorrect, but I could honestly die happy in a vat of Duncan Hines vanilla. Does anyone know how to make something like that from scratch? The high-end frostings are too buttery and elegant. Where’s my supermarket style?
