Confessions of a Supportive Spouse - Part 1

I did something recently that I need to get off my chest, so here goes: After a year of avoiding such events by claiming work meetings/conference calls/looming essay deadlines/prior engagements, I finally defected to the Dark Side last week and went to my first coffee morning. A serious admission, I know, but it gets worse. Not only did I attend the coffee morning, I was jointly HOSTING it. I even baked some cookies. (Unfortunately they were completely inedible - baking is not my forte - but I did try. How was I to know that a) cookie mixture expanded so much in the oven b) when the recipe says one teaspoon of cake mixture it means one teaspoon and not one tablespoon and c) when the recipe says 'bake for 8 to 10 minutes', it means 8 to 10 minutes and not 15 minutes? I thought cooking was all about creativity, but apparently that doesn't apply to the measurement and timing bit. It has been a long time since Home Ec classes at school, which was the last time I baked anything resembling a cookie - I think we called them biscuits in those days). 

A word of explanation: My dear husband and our friend Olly are attempting to raise $25,000 for a Tanzanian charity by cycling from DC to Africa. They embark upon this little trek next week - on Saturday 2nd May to be precise - and are aiming to cover the 1000 or so miles in 7 days. Fundraising is going well so far, and Olly's wife Nathalie and I are hosting a series of smaller events to support the boys and raise some extra cash in addition to the sponsorship money. Hence the coffee morning/book sale.

The good news is that the book sale raised over $500, so it was definitely 2 hours well spent. The bad news is that our friends and colleagues were so generous with their literary donations that we now have several hundred second hand books on our hands. Which means another book/cake sale event this Friday, this time at the Embassy, where we're hoping we might shift a few of the spy novels and thrillers in addition to all the chick lit and children's books that we sold last week. That's two Fridays in a row. This is a habit I have got to kick. Particularly as there is more baking involved.

Apropos of which, for some reason I have yet to fathom, my friend Lauren has given me a tub of pre-mixed, frozen Gourmet Cookie Dough. Apparently, all I have to do is preheat the oven to 350'C, spoon desired amount of mixture onto baking tray and bake for approximately 10-12 minutes. How hard can that be?

Comments

[Bex]

Do NOT under any circumstances tell Mum you have lots of second hand books - she'll be on the next flight over!!! In fact, I will tell Mum that if she was a really good person she would hoard all her books for herself, but sell them at a coffee morning for charity. Great idea!!

[Katy]

I second that. Just think, by Christmas Auntie Min may have uncovered rooms you never knew existed in Mill Villa!!!!
And as for those baking skills Em - well who needs them? I tell you - my(Betty Crocker) brownies are a sight to behold and if you take Waitrose Mince Pies out of their foil wrappers and rough them up a bit . . .