Coffee with Elizabeth - Packing and Desserts

"So, we meet again," I say stroking an imaginary cat. It is, of course, not a real cat, because even in our imaginations, cats are not allowed in Starbucks. That would be ridiculous.

You laugh, because, of course, stroking an imaginary cat inside a Starbucks and not a dark evil lair is also ridiculous.

"My mom ran a bakery out of her home for a while," I say dipping biscotti in my coffee. "She made these. If I stacked them very precisely in the display jars, I got to eat the heels! Later I found out it wasn't biscotti, but mandel bread that she made. I'm not sure if there's a difference, but I felt betrayed nonetheless."

A woman walks in with a rolling suitcase. It has a luggage tag displaying a platform number: 9 3/4. I'm covetous.

"I travel a lot," I contemplate aloud. "As I'm sure you know!" I bring my attention back to you and away from the Harry Potter paraphernalia that I long to call my own.

"It seems like I'm always packing. Like the name of the game is 'how strategically can I do this so my life will be less difficult later?' Currently, the aim is to pack everything I need for two months of bush living in less than 400kg and packed so it all spatially fits inside a helicopter. How much spatially can a helicopter hold? I'm not sure… But that just adds to the fun!" I cringe even as I try to make light.

"Two months is a long time. Too long to sleep on an air mattress that screams every time you move. Hopefully, we can fit a mattress in our spatial limits…

"Thanksgiving will happen. I already have two cans of pumpkin puree packed for pumpkin pie!"
I whip out my bullet journal to jot a note to pack pumpkin pie spice.

"There's so much in my head. Gotta have paper handy to catch it all," I say stowing my journal again.

"Jacob wants peanut butter cookies for Halloween. I tried to put all the ingredients in a jar, but it turns out a cup of sugar and a cup of brown sugar and two and a half cups of flour, etc won't fit into a pint sized jar. Jacob said I could divide the recipe. He doesn't seem to understand that means less cookies…

"I don't think we'll be able to crave a pumpkin. They have pumpkins (more like miscellaneous gourds…) but to explain the practice... 'Well, it was to scare away demons… But not anymore! Now it's just fun! This has nothing to do with demons! Anymore… Yes, well, if you have pagan traditions you shouldn't do that, but we can… redeem them… by making them… frivolous? Frivolously wasting food by letting it rot for the sake of …not scaring off demons…' Yes, best to avoid pagan practices…

"But that's only the first step! The second step is to make sure the return is smooth! What do I need when I get back to town? This go round we'll be coming home just in time for Christmas, which means not only should town clothes and toiletries be at the ready but also Christmas décor and peppermint extract.

"You see, it's hardly Christmas without a peppermint cake! And with so many Christmas staples missing here in PNG, it's important to emphasize what we can. My mother always made a three layer peppermint cake for Christmas. She would crush peppermint to dust the peppermint icing with the lovely fragments and stand up three peppermint rounds in the center, all nearly touching in the middle. 'Three' she'd say placing them carefully, 'is aesthetically pleasing. Not two. Not four. Three.' So I make it the same way. I made two last year for the Christmas Eve Branch Party. One melted and the other didn't. I'm not sure why…

"But that's only the second step! The third step is preparing to go the bush AGAIN! I mean, I come home for 6ish weeks. (That's the tentative plan at least.) And we decorate for Christmas, have Christmas and New Years and all the festivities thereunto.

(The New Year's Tradition is orange icing cinnamon rolls for breakfast. My grandmother used to have them whenever we came to visit and they were so yummy, so they were substituted for my mother's tradition of a huge breakfast banquet, since our little family can't be expected to put away a banquet! Not yet at least...)

And then a whole week is devoted to the Branch's Annual General Meeting! Basic living is time consuming enough! I need cargo to be ready! 

"So where is our shower toiletry hanger? And do we need it to come out on our next trip or not? Extra pots? Extra pans? Where did that clock get to? And so on and so forth. With many things already stowed, I don't know how well of a job we'll do on this third step. But I've found the packing process to be less than perfect.

"Practice makes perfect, but to err is human.

"I don't mind coffee on my almonds, but I hate almonds in my coffee," I lament looking wistfully at the telltale rings from where a chunk of biscotti fell in my cup.