Thoughts and feelings

Right now I am feeling frustrated and a little disappointed that the bread I have been working on for the last 6 hours has not turned out.  This project all started when I saw online that a garage sale/fundraiser/bake sale was being held tomorrow for a 14 year old name Jacob Watson.  Jacob was one of Joshua’s students this last year.  We went and visited him in the hospital when he was first diagnosed with Leukemia. 

Since they are having a bake sale, I thought I’d make and donate some artisan bread.  It is easy (normally), beautiful (normally) and tastes great (normally).  I quickly made up the dough and left it to rise.  During that time I went to buy a new baking stone as ours had seen its last day a few weeks ago.  Quick trip I thought.  Run to the store, run in, grab the stone, pay for it, home in 30 minutes.  Wrong!  It took me 4 stores until I found it.  Finally, I get home, season the stone, and get everything ready to bake.  When I go to put the first loaf in the oven it won’t come off the pizza peel.  Now this is not the first time that has happened.  In fact, it has happened every time we try it.  Stupid pizza peel. (Side note, we bought the pizza peel for $30 to my protest against doing so.  Tonight at the first and second stores I went to, I saw the same one for $10.  TEN DOLLARS! Ridiculous.  I should hold to my guns about not spending that much.  Paying more does not always mean it will work better.  Stuff sticks to it all the time and drives me crazy.)    

Back to the story; finally I get the first one off the peel and into the oven onto the new baking stone for the stones debut.  As it is baking, the stone cracks in half.  WHAT!!  STUPID STONE!  I still have 2 loaves to go.  So I decide to use the larger half of the stone anyways to cook the rest of the loaves.  Each loaf comes out looking …well…, not as beautiful as normal.  I have just tasted one.  It’s not very good.  Not only am I’m rethinking taking anything to the bake sale but it’s now nearly midnight, I am tired, have had to clean the kitchen again, used up most of my flour and thrown away 2 of the 3 loaves of bread.   I’ll just have to wait to see if the 3^rd is a nasty as the others.  Either way, I can’t offer to have it sold.  I suppose it’s a tender mercy that I tasted it and did not subject others to it as well.