Why?

I think I have a repressed three year old somewhere deep inside of me. I think my parents didn’t respond to my questions when I was little, or something terribly deep and mildly psychotic like that anyway. Why? Because I still have a problem with ‘why’!

Why?
Why do some sweet potatoes get brown spots the moment you peal (or should that be peal?) them? And why do others get the brown spots only when you cook them, and others not at all. And is it ok to feed Muski sweet potato fingers with brown bits?

Why?
Why does the child who only poops once every ten days always manage to time it for when we are out of the house?

Why?
Why did I have identical twins? Why did that happily fertilised egg decide to split and make two identical little beings? Why was it my egg that split and not someone else’s?

Why?
Why can’t I make cheese sauce without lumps in it?

… but why?

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9 Comments

  1. Hey, you’re a Mum with 2 four year olds and a nearly 1 year old, I would have thought you’d have all the answers by now? ;-)

  2. Some of my own:

    Why do normally soft things go hard when stale (bread for example) and others which are normally hard (biscuits, crackers) go soft?

    Why does the tie front of your sweatpants get all knotted up right at the moment that you’re busting to go to the toilet?

    Why do you never see the pile of doggy poopy when you’re wearing your good dress shoes?

    Why do kids manage to get toothpaste on their school uniforms five minutes before walking out the door, and on the same day you’re behind on the washing so you have no spare shirts?

    On that note, why, even when you scrub the spot ‘clean’, does the toothpaste mark show up when the wet patch dries?

    Why do you only remember tomorrow is swimming day at 11pm at night? With no clean towels in the house?

    Why is it always raining at Auskick?

    LOL. Oh, and the trick to smooth white/cheese sauce is to add the milk off the heat. Melt the butter first, then take off the heat, add the flour, mix to a ball, then add a smidgeon of the milk at a time, working it in as you go. You should have a dough ball to begin with, working back to ‘drop biscuits’ consistency, then cake batter, then completely runny. Don’t add the next bit of milk till the last is totally worked in, especially for the first couple of splashes. The runnier it gets, the more milk you can safely throw in at a time. Then you stick the whole thing back on the heat and KEEP STIRRING. It might take a while but it will begin to thicken. Depending on the dough to milk ratio it could be ‘runny thick’ or ‘thickshake thick’ if that makes sense. If you can see bubbles, its about as thick as its going to get. Throw in your cheese, stir until melted (the heat of the sauce will do the job for you if you want to take it off the heat again). Adding cheese will thicken it slightly more than straight out white sauce. THEN add your seasonings, off the heat.

    Never fudge a pot of sauce with this method and it also works for gravy too (I mix the whole thing on the sink then put the pot on the burner).

    Cheers,
    Lizzie (P.S. I have your meme in the works…honest…LOL)

  3. I know not the answers but the sweet potato black spot is oxidisation and I think it is okay … I am still alive.
    The egg – thats too technical !
    I used the bamix last time I had lumps … smooth as baby lotion afterwards.

  4. lumpy cheese sauce? 2 words – STAB BLENDER. also works for gravy, custard, white sauce, etc. LOL

    keep smilin’ hun

  5. A whisk and elbow grease do the trick for smooth cheese sauce. Mind you, the suggestion above to use a stab blender might just be easier! :-)

    As for the poop thing, if you find out the answer I’m keen to know it!!

  6. I use Lizzie’s method of getting non-lumpy cheese sauce. Works every time! I agree that this is also the best way to make custard from custard powder as well.

    I know the feeling of ‘Why’ I was just about to blog some of my ‘whys’ as well!