Yesterday, I was making something in the kitchen that required me to freeze a bowl, and then work with heavy whipping cream in the frozen bowl at the sink (whipped cream). In the middle of the process of whipping the cream (which failed, by the way; not sure why, except that I ran out of patience to keep trying… there’s a lesson in that), I realized that I had not shut the freezer door behind me. It was open, and pouring cold air (and my dollars!) into the apartment. Augh! But I couldn’t stop whipping the cream, could I?
So. I did what any sane person would do. I reached behind myself with my foot, and closed the freezer with my toes.
Wait, what?
It wasn’t until after I did it that I realized what an odd action it was, and how I would never have thought of it ten months ago. How could I have? My legs weren’t flexible enough to lift my foot above my hip, much less hold it there, for long enough to push the door shut. Let me emphasize this: I couldn’t have done it when I started this process of learning and practicing tai chi. I didn’t have the mental or physical resources to do it.
But the pushing in the title of this essay has nothing to do with pushing the door closed.
RE Whipping cream. Using just heavy “whipping” cream that is cold and cold utensils (usually don’t need to be frozen), you should not have had any problems; I assume you are using an electric hand mixer rather than a whisk? The biggest fault in whipping cream is warmth and/or over-whipping and then the worst that happens is you get butter. Unless you have other ingredients in the mix (other than sugar and vanilla)… then I would have to know them to comment. Try again, it’s odd to have a fail. You might try frig temp not freezer temp and see if that makes a difference. If you were using a whisk rather than a powered hand mixer, perhaps it just needed a bit more time and effort and in that case I would use freezer temp because of the extra time involved or better yet, a powered hand mixer.
RE your blog… I love to hear your experiences and observations. Very motivating!
RE the freezer door. After a lifetime of going barefoot every chance I have, that action would have been completely normal for me. But for you, with your explanation… Hey! Congrats!!! That kind of thing is so joyous when it happens.