So I had a hard time sleeping on Friday night. It kind of went like this:
10 p.m. - toss and turn fitfully for about an hour.
11:15 p.m. - fall asleep.
11:45 p.m. - wake up, toss and turn in a vain effort to sleep.
1:30 a.m. - fall asleep again.
2 a.m. - wake up, again tossing and turning for about an hour.
3 a.m. - realize efforts are epic failure, give up on sleep, and go down to kitchen.
Of course once in my kitchen, my foul mood caused by my inability to sleep magically disappeared as I pulled out my Marcato Atlas 180 Pasta Maker and the fresh pasta dough I'd made on Friday afternoon. And there, in the peaceful silence of my kitchen at that ridiculously early hour of Saturday morning while my husband, stepson, and Miniature Cocker Spaniel slumbered upstairs, I put on my apron and bandana (to keep my hair off my face and out of anything I make) and dusted my board with flour to begin rolling my dough to a thinness of about 1/16 inch.
After I finished filling and shaping four dozen tortellini and three dozen ravioli, I looked at my re-floured board and thought to myself, "Self, you floured the board again but didn't use it, and throwing it away would be such a waste of perfectly good bench flour, so a batch of fluffy buttermilk biscuits is in order." I had just bought some fresh buttermilk at the farm on Friday afternoon, and as my inner-self pointed out, throwing away the freshly dusted and unused bench flour would be a waste. Plus, who doesn't love fresh buttermilk biscuits on a cold winter morning? (My stepson sure did when he groggily came down for breakfast at about 9 a.m., and upon seeing the towel-lined basket filled with biscuits on the table, quickly abandoned his plans for a breakfast of frozen waffles cooked in the toaster, in favor of scrambled eggs, fluffy biscuits, a banana, and glass of milk.)
Of course, after baking the biscuits and cleaning up after everything, it was still wicked early and my family still snoozed upstairs, so I figured I'd whip up a quick chocolate cake and fudge frosting for dessert that night. I mean really, why not, right? It's not like I had anything else to do at 5:30 on a Saturday morning ...
I've got to tell you, after the night I had of tossing and turning and fitfully sleeping for little snatches here and there, followed by my early morning in the kitchen baking up a storm, you'd think I'd have been asleep on my feet, or supremely grumpy from lack of sleep. Instead, I felt relaxed and, oddly enough, very rested from my time in the kitchen. I shouldn't really say "oddly enough" though, considering that baking is very relaxing and calming for me. No matter how much I have to bake, or how detailed my decorations have to be. My kitchen really is my sanctuary, and baking really is my mind, body, and soul's centering activity.
I hope you all had a fabulous first weekend of 2013, and that your first whole week of the new year is off to a great start!
Until next time, I send you sugar and spice wishes to make all things nice.
~Amy
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