Procure a thick chocolate bar from your pantry or grocery store. (Thicker bars are easier to work with; they don't break as easily.)
Melt the chocolate for about 20 seconds in the microwave until it is just warmer than room temperature, but not melting.
Break the bar into manageable chunks.
Holding the chocolate with one hand and a vegetable peeler in the other, slice the peeler towards you. If the chocolate merely shatters and breaks off, the bar is not warm enough.
Reheat and try again.
Once you have made the curls, your only option is to procrastinate some more and make a dessert atop which to sprinkle the curls.
2. Alphabetize your spice drawer!
It might seem like a rather frivolous activity, one for which you may become the subject of polite ridicule from friends/ a spouse /yourself, but I daresay that my overall quality of life has improved since the day that my spices became easier to locate in a pinch.
P.S. Spices are very accessible in a drawer, as opposed to a cabinet. If you ever find yourself scrambling for your nutmeg, only to find you have three canisters of it because you couldn't find it the last two times you looked for it so you bought more at the store, I highly recommend procrastinating whatever you are supposed to be doing right now (you're obviously procrastinating, hello, you're reading a food blog), clean out a drawer, and alphabetize your spices.
3. Practice becoming an expert on your mandoline!
(The slicer, not the musical instrument. )
Stop complaining about how you can't figure out how to the work the stupid thing; just play with it, and you'll get it. Grab random fruits or vegetables in your kitchen and start slicing.
For this procrastination session, I set the mandoline on a very thin setting, ran an apple through its magnificently sharp blades, laid the slices out on a Silpat, sprinkled them with brown sugar, and baked them at 350 degrees until they crisped up. Yum!
Any more ideas on how to waste time in the kitchen? I am always open to learning new strategies in order to avoid what I am supposed to be doing at any given moment.
I find that taking photos for new blog entires is an outstanding way to waste time in the kitchen. As an added bonus, you get to waste other people's time when they read your posts. It's a win win!
ReplyDeleteWow, Erielle - quite a Monica Geller moment! :D
ReplyDeleteI've been considering the spices in the drawer trick...right now we have ours in a closet, on lazy susans. :)
ReplyDeleteHere's how you can procrastinate: tell us five things we don't know about you! I was having trouble with blogger comments or I would have let you know a while ago that I tagged you, but I hope you don't mind!
ReplyDeleteI tried to organize my spice drawer by theme or dish, but there was too much overlap. While I'm in Paris, I don't really have the space in my kitchenette to organize my spices. Alas.
ReplyDeleteAnd hell-freakin-yeah about the mandolin. It's a fantastically useful tool once you get the hang of it.
And check this out. Whether you love Rachel Ray or hate her with the fire of a thousand suns, you have to check out this hilarious conceptual art project.
good idea!!
ReplyDeleteI can waste time in the kitchen doing just about anything. My time wasting usually isn't nearly as productive as yours has been though!
ReplyDeleteOh, yeah. Pyahh!
ReplyDeleteI like to taste the vinegars I'm allowing to ferment naturally. Daily.
I just go in there and pop off the corks and take a little sip. Mm. Some of them are coming along quite sophisticatedly. Some, not so.
Still, I do my bit.
I go in there and taste them.
It's a job.
Fermentation: It's slow. It's for procrastinators.
Oh lets see....I am a goddess of time wasting in the kitchen
ReplyDelete-organize the tupperware
-rearrange every drawer in a lame attempt to toss out something you don't use and then rationalize why you need everything.....still
-not only did I re-arrange my spices, I categorized them by use, not alphabet, and then I labeled all the jars (i buy bulk so i tend not to have many with actual labels) Now that was a project.
-sweep the shelves
-reline the drawers
-scrub the sink until i feel like creating a shrine around it
um, well hey.... it only LOOKS like I have a lot of time on my hands!
Annie, I agree. What fun we have!
ReplyDeletePatricia, I am a little embarrassed to admit that my spice drawer is alphabetized. But I don't hear anyone complaining when their food is ready one minute faster, do I?
J, you could always alphabetize them in the lazy susan. The drawer is real nice, though. Easy access.
Aoife, thanks for giving me another reason to procrastinate! J tagged me awhile ago, too, so I'll get to those soon.
LMGM, what a wonderfully neutral manner in which you presented that link.
Have you seen those nasty photos of her in her underwear? Another link for all to enjoy, whether you love Rachel Ray or hate or with the fire of a thousand suns:
GROSS.
Leonine19, thanks!
Kristen, those time-wasting episodes were collected over a few weeks...those just happened to be the most fruitful activities. I'm usually not that productive! (Though some people would argue with me that I was not productive at all and should have doing other things like bills, housework, blah blah blah)
Cookiecrumb, I tried to make vinegar last summer and I failed. It didn't ferment and then it evaporated. Where did you get your mother of vinegar? What sorts of containers do you use? Maybe I will hop on over to your blog and see if you wrote anything about fermenting vingars.
Kate, your kitchen must be spotless! I need some lessons from you. Mine is gross. I think it's because cleaning is one of those things that I always put off until I just can't procrastinate any longer.
that spice drawer looks good. HAH. Mine's a hell of a mess. Arrange everything in the pantry according to height!=)
ReplyDeletehttp://ooohcake.blogspot.com
make a sourdough starter and name it (because it is alive!)
ReplyDeleteHaving just moved, my current way to waste time in the kitchen is to try to find ANYthing.
ReplyDeleteAlphabetized spice drawers are just the beginning. I hit Mother Lode going through my pantry - 11 cans of beets, 23 cans of garbanzo beans, and 13 boxes of wild rice. Does anyone need a few jars of mace? I counted four.
ReplyDelete