Hark the Herald Angels Sing

It’s that time of the year when my dark chocolate and ginger brownies make an appearance.

https://bunminolabakes.wordpress.com/2016/12/17/dark-chocolate-and-ginger-brownies/

https://bunminolabakes.wordpress.com/2017/10/02/these-are-sublime-bunmi/

It appears I really am creature of habit but these brownies are really quite tasty and one of my favourite ‘go to’s. This years work Christmas lunch is next Tuesday, I will be bringing a batch of theses. I thought I would do a practice run of what I planned to take. I bought some unprocessed cocoa that I wanted to experiment with. And I today I really needed to bake…

The past 48 hours has somehow been manic, I came home on Friday evening feeling very stressed and unhappy. I collapsed on the sofa and ate my lunch (yes, at nine o’clock in the evening), I tried to stop myself from crying and feeling sorry for myself. I wasn’t that successful, I went to bed, I couldn’t sleep. And when I did fall into a haze of something, I’d dream about all the things that were bothering me. I woke up at four thirty in the morning and remembered that there was a letter from our education colleagues that I wanted to respond to. I printed off the letter (can do this wirelessly from my phone) got out of bed and in my pyjamas on the sofa, in the light of the Christmas tree, I proceeded to write a five page response. It was more than a little strange. However as soon as I wrote it. I felt much better. The tension that had built up over the week just melted away. I felt calm. I pulled a blanket over myself and fell asleep properly at six thirty in the morning listening to breakfast news.

Well fast forward to the rest of the day. I woke, went back to bed and did not emerge until midday. I felt like a new person, I had shed the trauma of the previous week. I made breakfast for Nacho and myself and afterwards took myself for a walk into town. I stopped for a while at a cake shop and finished off a few old blog posts, listening to Christmas carols, while sipping away at a delicious pot of Earl Grey tea.

I think this hour out of the house just helped me reset myself and gain some perspective that had somehow been lost in the chaos of the week. Sometimes I just let work get to me, in ways that are just not healthy. I am a work in progress and I am trying to find better ways to manage the stress.

I find the thing that puts me right me back were I need to be mentally is baking. So whipping up this batch of brownies could not have come at a better time. The melting of the butter and chocolate was strangely soothing. The smell when the brownie mixture was baked was comforting. My kitchen heaven.

My best friend taught me that the best way to cut brownies once cooked is with a knife just washed in hot water. The knife just makes a completely clean cut, it’s wonderful.