A spoonful of sugar…

The last step in making this recipe called Orange Tapioca Pudding that I have involves adding a pinch of salt to 2 egg whites, whipping until soft peaks form, and then adding 1 tablespoon of sugar.

This was taking place on Sunday. I had already made a stew out of a beef heart a friend gave me (thanks Donna for reminding me how good beef heart is).

And I had made a lovely loaf of Italian herb bread in my cast iron pot….

And now I was finishing up the dessert. I very cleverly (I thought) had put the tapioca in the small crock pot, which meant that in between periodic stirring, I could vacuum and mop the floor and clean the outside of the refrigerator and the cabinets and sweep down cobwebs and so on, rather than stand glued to the floor in front of the stove stirring constantly for a very long time.

I was doing all of this because I had taken the unusual and very impulsive action of inviting my friend Judy for lunch on Monday. I am not very comfortable inviting people for a meal. I am embarrassed about my house, and I worry that the food I make is not going turn out, and on top of that, I do not seem to have that “gift of hospitality” that my mother and sister have been gifted with. But I love Judy and I needed to talk to her about stuff.  

After the egg white were nicely foaming, I added the tablespoon of sugar and finished beating them and folded them in to my lovely orange tapioca pudding. And then I thought I had better taste it.

Have mercy!

I had dumped in a tablespoon of salt instead of sugar.

Richard heard my cry of dismay and came in the kitchen. “Throw it away,” he said.

I could not bear to dump all of that tapioca down the drain, so I put it in sieve and washed the “pudding” part away, leaving the orange slices and the clear balls of tapioca, and then I found a box of instant vanilla pudding and prepared that and mixed it all together.

It was not quite as good as the original would have been, but it worked.

And I had a lovely visit with my friend.