mayonnaise

That's right, I made home-made mayonnaise! Bow down to the domestic goddess!

Seriously, this is a big pain in the ass. I started using my hand blender - big mistake. Since the egg yolk and dry ingredients are so low in the bowl, the blade sits too high to really achieve an emulsification. I started with one egg yolk since I really don't need all that much mayonnaise for just me. But now I had a bowl of liquid oil-egg gunk.

I decided to consult the web and found that one woman's technique was to use this sort of mixture and add it spoonful-by-spoonful to the other egg yolk. She also uses a bottle to add the oil drop by drop - personally I think that's for folks who can't resist the urge to pour the oil in too quickly.

So, I now have two bowls I'm working with - the new egg yolk and the liquid mixture. I decide to switch to the hand beater - that old fashion thing you and mom used to use before Kitchenaide's awesome stand mixer (I miss mine, sniffle, sniffle). Little by little I add the oil, then a spoonful of the egg goo ... then oil .. more focused on getting the egg goo incorporated ... I think it's working ... maybe not ... this is taking forever! WTF? Alton Brown's recipe calls for hand whisking this? Is he insane!? I'd be exhausted and looking for the nearest vodka bottle trying that stunt.

I'm getting some ridges. Yes, it's thickening. Emulsification is my bitch! I ad some more lemon juice (acid) to get a bit more white fluff. Keep whipping. It's looking good. Finally! So there! I kicked that oil-egg-resistance's ass. I add some herbs, adjust the spices to taste. I can make mayonnaise. My job, social life, commute, and finances may all suck but dang-gum-it, I can make mayonnaise in one tiny closet-sized NYC studio kitchen. I'm a GODDESS!