Too Much of a Good Thing?

Right now Peppermint Patty is my least favourite Peanuts character. It's nothing personal, but it is what it is.

Have you ever made something so often that you get to a point you never want to see, smell or taste it again?

I am gearing up for wedding season and am trying to get things out of the way that can be done ahead of time. One of my couples decided they wanted peppermint patties as part of their reception because it brought back memories of where they met (and where I met them as well). I determined that I could make the centres ahead of time and freeze them. Then all I have to do is dip them in chocolate the week of the wedding.

Well, I made a quadruple batch knowing I would have some leftovers but that is good in case some don't look nice or I decide I need them for another use. I figured I would do 130 for the wedding and if I could squeeze out 3 dozen more that would be great. Well, I worked for a couple of hours on them the first night and got 160 (about what I wanted) and still had some peppermint "dough" leftover. I put in the fridge and two days later I decided I would use it up. I kept making them and making them and ended up with 322 centres in my freezer! Now peppermint is a very acute scent. It can be pleasant, unless you are inhaling it for long periods of time. It permeated into my nostrils and even 3 days later I am still smelling it! Now I am not complaining, because I love my work, but I am making lots of notes on how many a batch actually does! At least I have a few weeks before I go on to the second phase to desensitize myself from the taste and smell of peppermint. Oh, and dear bride, if you are reading this, I love you to bits and would do it again in a heartbeat for you!

This brings me back to a memory of my maternal Grandmother. She would come stay with us during summers when I was growing up. One of my jobs in the summer to earn more allowance (so I could spend more time at the pool!) was to pick raspberries from the bushes in our back yard. I would do them in the early morning or evening so that it wasn't so hot. But my Grandmother was a diabetic and also happened to love raspberries. She ate them morning, noon and night and as such wanted me to pick them morning, noon and night! She was always asking if I could go get her a fresh bowl full even though there were tons in the fridge already waiting to be eaten, frozen or turned into jam. I would go, but after three long summers of this it got pretty tiring.

My friends used to call me "Raspberry" because I constantly smelled like them and my hands were often dyed red from the juice. For about 20 years I would get sick at the sight and smell of them and never wanted to ever be in contact with them again. But it finally wore off and I do eat and cook with them, in moderation. And when I do, I can now look back fondly at those days I had with my Grandmother and realize it really wasn't a high price to pay to make her happy....and I got paid for it too!

Isn't that the same in life? That we can get too much of a good thing and have to leave it aside for awhile. I got thinking of Susan Boyle, the Scottish singer who wowed the world with her beautiful voice that didn't fit the package it was wrapped in on "Britain's Got Talent". Within days she was all over the internet, TV, radio, papers, you name it. What is sad about this is that by the time she gets to the next round of the show two things may happen - people will be tired of the story and/or she will have been made over and the magic will be gone. I hope that they give her the space she needs to be herself and the rest of the world a chance to desensitize from the hype so her next performance will be as magical and enlightening as the first!

Keep Your Fork

I don't know why, but on this Good Friday I am reminded of a little anecdote I first heard in church and have since seen many times in my email in variations on the same theme.

It starts out with an elderly woman who has no family and she is in very poor health. The pastor comes over one day to visit her and take down the arrangements she would like for her funeral. They go through all the basic information and then she makes one more request. "Pastor, I want you to make sure that I am buried with a fork in my hand". Now the Pastor had known this woman for a long time and had never known her to do anything out of the ordinary, so he was totally taken by surprise by this comment. "Why a fork"?, he asked.

She said, "Well, at all the church banquets I have attended, we have always been asked to keep our forks when the tables are cleared before dessert and I looked forward to that because it was always the best part of the meal". So, I want to be ready with a fork in my hand as I go to heaven, because I know the best is yet to come".

Isn't it true, that many of us see dessert as the best of any meal, no matter what is served at any course? I remember growing up I would always make Christmas dessert. They started with simple Jello concoctions and got more fancy every year. And the extended family would always ooooo and ahhhh over it and I would feel so special.

It is nice when we can put that same enthusiasm into other expectations in our lives, whether it is doing well on an exam, finishing school, meeting the right person, getting married, having a child, going on a trip to a place we haven't been, or, going to heaven.

So food can represent expectation. This can be positive, like a wonderful dessert or, sadly it can be the expectation of where your next meal will come from and when. Kinda sounds like life, doesn't it?