Phoenix

I’ve written before about my stresses with food. I try to be quite conscious of what food I purchase. I don’t like to waste food or let it spoil.

Last week my volunteering buddy gave me some apples from her allotment. I graciously accepted them. They sat in the fruit bowl and I know that they could sit there forever.

Today I decided that I’d bake an Apple crumble from scratch. I’ve never baked one before! I hate baking. I get stressed. Some of my alters get moody and then I make mistakes. I was determined the apples wouldn’t go to waste and set to work. The recipe didn’t look that complicated

I peeled and chopped the apples. Then I stated rubbing in the cubes of butter and sugar to the flour. I rubbed and rubbed and rubbed some more but it wasn’t getting to a breadcrumb like texture. I started to get frustrated. I don’t like getting my hands messy. It’s why I don’t have hobbies that include getting stuff on my hands. Rubbing butter into flour is not a clean job! Then my back started to hurt. I could feel the cramps in my fingers. That was especially triggering. Being a musician means I’m quite protective of my hands and arms. I couldn’t be bothered to get clean enough to goggle the problem and my fingers were too sticky to touch my phone. So I chucked more flour in a bit at a time and rubbed hard. I got there in the end!

I popped it in the oven, cleaned the kitchen and flopped in the recliner whilst it was baking. That’s when my fingers started to twist up in painful cramps. It’s the same if I stretch to play octaves repeatedly or bar chords on the guitar. I think if I was pain free I’d play music all day, but I’m not, so I can’t.

Anyway 45 minutes later the flat was filled with aroma of Apple crumble. I carefully took it out of the oven. It turned out well. I’m not sure I’ll attempt it again anytime soon. The portion I had with ice cream after dinner made it worth while and the cramps in my hands are slowly subsiding. It will be interesting to see what the scan of my hands shows next month.

Phoenix.