For the past 2 months, my neighbourhood grocer has been stocking really weird varieties of sugar. These sugar crystals are rather large. In fact, they are HUGE, and they stick out like soyburger patties at a barbeque. (I know we should save the cows and chickens and deer and goats, but soynugget barbeques? Really? Just invite people into your backyard for a tofu bonfire. Much less disappointment. And yes, I do know someone who does soy-a-ques. He even calls them that. And he wonders why he is still single.)

ANYWAY. I prefer finer sugar, since it dissolves easily in tea and milk and coffee and cake batter, but for some reason I have been getting stuck with mutant sugar crystals every time I order from my local grocery store, or any of the other shops in the area. And I get the same message each time: this is all we have in stock. Oh well.

I was getting sick of it. I do not like mutant sugar crystals. Those mutant sugar crystals, I do not like. I do not like them here or there, I do not like them anywhere. I would not eat them in a box, I would not eat them with a fox.

I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. Why else would I take inspiration from Dr. Seuss?

So today, I actually spent my afternoon grinding and downsizing sugar. I bought 1 kilogram of sugar, and separated it into thirds. I pounded some using a mortar and pestle; I zapped some in the blender to make it coarser; and the last bit was also zapped in the blender, to a fine powder.

Now, I am ready for any kind of home-cooking challenge that involves sugar.

And I will never be afraid of mutant sugar crystals.

photo courtesy | physicsforums.com (This is actually quartz.)

Did I mention that I seem to have a lot of time on my hands?