queue the "sugar plum fairy theme"..... The curtain draws, the house lights flicker and fade. In front of you - a stage, the set painted and built to resemble a porch?
As I had described in earlier posts, I had posted a blurb in the "wanted" section of craig's List . Mentioning my need to find culinary/baking things, used, at a discounted price.
Because let's face it, being a student is not cheap, but let alone having to pay childcare on top of the normal expenses is even more devastating to finances.
The response I got was great. A local caterer was willing to sell me ALLOT of baking things for $25 total. [You can read about what I got here.... ] I had been using my Cuisinart Custom prep Food Processor , that I got 3 years ago for a wedding gift, to mix. It works fine for non finicky doughs.
But I had wanted a kitchen aide for a long time. Money was not playing into my favor. Someone offered to sell me one for $50 dollars. [You can read about that here...]
Someone who wanted to remain anonymous, sent me an email. She had offered to give me a copy of Professional Baking , for free. So I was not going to turn that down. My daughter was ill so I had my husband go pick it up. And when he got there, there was a box on the porch that said "Have Fun Amber!", the box was full of cool things :
a Stoneware loaf pan; A Black n' Decker "Handy chopper" ; A wire cake cutter ; 4 other baking related books ; 3 large cake molds ; A set of Canape molds ; Unopened - artichoke pesto, almond paste,marzipan, poppy seeds ;A large unopened bag of instant yeast ;a large bag of bay leaves ; A large can of Gum - Tex; A Cream Whipper/filler;
A copy of The Naked Chef - Jamie Oliver ;
A brand new-in box , Zenker "Super Cake Baking Tin - Which I love! 
Her generosity blew me away. I was not asking for charity by any means. I had items listed in my post , which if buying brand new , retail for pretty spendy prices. I specifically noted in the post I would like to purchase used items, at a discounted price. And here I was blessed with this baking bounty.
How can I convey how great these culinary equipment fairies are??? We humans tend to get caught up in our own pursuits, forgetting there is a world out there. That there are caring people. It is so easy to feel alone, to feel soured by images we see plastered all over the news & television screen. You almost have to grow a hardened shell, retreat into your own little world, to deflect that.
A Big Thanks To those who have been so kind! Also to my readers, for listening....
(originally blogged March 22nd, 2005)
