Making Your Own Bliss

Phew. Life. After two months of recovery and working from home, I went back to campus this week. This coming week, I get to go back to the gym and we have auditions. The week after includes the beginning of rehearsal and another follow-up with my surgeon. Whoa. So I took today to just do things that I love. I spent the majority of the day in the kitchen and the remainder in the sewing room. Bliss. 

Although I can't chew yet, I can eat baked goods in teensy bites. Plus, I have been watching scads of seasons of The Great British Bake Off. I dare you to watch it and not want to bake everything.I found a delectable recipe on Pinterest for Salted Chocolate Espresso Brookies from mydailymorsel. Seriously, some of the best cookies that I have ever had. I made a batch of baked oatmeal and my very favorite bread: Graham Bread from The Bread Bible by Beth Hensperger. Even more bliss.

This afternoon, I got to work on The Big Quilt. I added Wisconsin, Minnesota (isn't the lumberjack fabric from Joyful Roots adorable?), and Kansas. Ramses wanted to help.

I also made chicken pot pie, many jars of homemade chicken stock, and delicious chicken barley soup. I had graham bread and soup for dinner. Still more bliss.

Time to watch a show about Broadway on PBS, have a cup of tea, and a few of those cookies. 

Comfort Food Re-imagined

Being chronically under-employed has it perks: I get to work in the garden more, I get to hone skills, I get to spend many of my days with my students, I get to try some new things that I did not have as much time for before. It also has its pitfalls: depression comes in waves, I am unmotivated to do new projects, and I eat...more than I should. As many women before me, my go-to stress snacks are sweet and crunchy. Ice cream though is expensive and fattening. Enter chocolate banana "nice" cream sandwiches!