Presidents Day or An Empty Afternoon and Creme Caramel

Today is a holiday in America, Presidents Day, it is also the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth. Here in South Carolina it was overcast. As mom and dad talked in the sunroom of whether they wanted a porch swing or glider for our new screened porch, I lingered in the kitchen filling in the pages of my new recipe notebook and looking outside at the skeletal trees that are beginning to have little buds form on their branches. I ate a lunch of leftover spaghetti cooked with toasted sesame seeds, lemon zest/juice, and soy sauce. I cooked the spaghetti in a fry pan with oil until they were a little browned and had a toasted flavor. Then I sat back with my laptop to read more of this blog.
As the afternoon crept on I felt discontent from such a lazy day and decided to cook. I made creme caramel, which from start to plate took a total of 3 1/2 hours. First off it took an hour for my sugar syrup to turn to caramel. It shouldn't take that long and I wonder if the amounts in the recipe were just wrong. As I waited for it to turn amber and syrupy I watched the bubbles form as it boiled. The bubbles were different than when water boils, I guess since the liquid was thicker. They looked silvery, sort of like mercury floating in the water. I tried to get a picture but the camera didn't fully capture it.
Before: Mercury Bubbles-----After: Caramel Sauce

After an hour of reducing, the liquid began to turn golden and finally copper. I was ready to go ahead with assembling of the eggs, milk, and sugar for the custard as the caramel cooled down. I poured the caramel into the ramekins and then the custard and left them to bake 350 degrees in a water bath for 45 min.
As I waited for the custards to cook I found The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock in one of my dad's old college literature books. It is my favorite poem and if you've never read it you should follow the link and read it.

Today was just one of those days when spending several hours cooking one thing felt satifying, like it was answering a question hidden just beyond my consciousness, a wondering deep inside.
That is what I like about the process of cooking, sometimes it is a rush, a flash - instant gratification, and at other times it is waiting and a long afternoon before you can finally take that first taste.
After the custards cooled to room temp I put them in the fridge to chill for an hour and made a garnish. I made some more caramel and drizzled it on waxed paper. Waxed paper was not a good choice since the caramel kept wanting to break up when I tried to lift it off the paper. Next time I'll use parchment or maybe I'll eventually invest in a silpat.