I could not get out of bed this morning. I was (& still am) exhausted. I think that after 10 months non-stop of go-go-go, the sudden onset of holiday has caused a crash. I hope to recover by this weekend.
Birthdays can also be a time to try something new, so today I did just that. I made a soufflé. I’ve always been a bit afraid to cook one, given a) the number of eggs in them; b) the fact that most cooking shows and books label them as “advanced”. However, I’d seen my mother make them plenty when I was young, so I figured that if she could do it, I could do it!
But Miss B. had made a reference to a Soufflé a few weeks ago and I asked if she’d ever had one. She said no but could I make one. I could, but I didn’t own a mix master — kinda essential for getting the whites to puff up enough.
So, Miss B. and G. got me a Sunbeam Mix Master for my bday. 
So, I spent the last two days researching soufflé recipes online and in my cookbooks and then this evening I made one for dinner. It took me longer to make than expected, partly because I couldn’t get the mix master to turn on — uh, largely because I’d forgotten to plug it in!
In case anyone is interested, I sort of combined Alton Brown’s recipewith the one in Rose Elliot’s Supreme Vegetarian Cookbook and some advice on several other random websites and modifed Alton’s ingredients list using a real garlic clove (crushed), 2 generous teaspoons of dijon, and some thyme instead of the garlic powder and mustard powder. I feel sure that he would probably lecture me on making the sauce too wet by using wet ingredients, but it worked, so there! In my ongoing quest to reduce fat intake around here, I used President’s Choice Celeb Margarine instead of butter, old half-the-fat cheddar cheese, and skim milk. And, yeah, it worked just fine, too.
Anyway, it turned out rather well, if I do say so myself. And now I have a request on for, you guessed it, a chocolate soufflé. So now I am researching that, which took me to the Old Hen Blog and her encouraging words, “I am starting to consider writing a blog about skydiving. I think it might be easier than this.” wOOt.
