Schools are back in session and folks are finishing up the last of their vacations, which means I will get to spend more time at the cave. I have plenty of tried and true recipes to bake and quite a few new ones to try. Now if I could convince the weatherman that the temperature needs to drop a few more degrees I'd be in business.
We had one day of rain on Monday, out of the last seventeen and my reserves are nearly depleted. As most folks that know me can attest, I like the rain. But it's looking like the upcoming Puyallup Fair is going to have plenty of sunshine to keep the fair crowds happy. Of course, the warm weather is counter productive for turning on an oven, so I'll continue perusing my newest cookie books and planning for cooler days.
I practiced a bit this morning. Turned on the oven at 330am while the cool air cycled through the cave keeping the temperature tolerable and made a few batches of what I refer to as 'the old standbys'. Chocolate chip (with a few Andes mints for a twist), Scutterbotch (commonly known as Butterscotch Oatmeal), and yellow sugar cookies. I would have made Snickerdoodles, but realized the baking supplies have dwindled due to my extended absences these past few months.
Nothing like opening the cupboards and realizing you're down to your last cup of flour, out of butter, chips, eggs, and a few spices. Time to make a shopping list of the basics and restock. I just wish the stores would have dedicated sale aisles for my baking needs like they have for school supplies. I know, give it another couple of months as Thanksgiving nears and the baking sales will begin in earnest. By that time I hope to be filling the first of my Christmas card list and that leads into the new year and all of those 'new resolutions'.
I'm thinking I should kick the procrastination bug in the seat of the pants and start on the resolutions early. No one said you had to wait until January 1 to start. And fall always seemed like a great time of year to start something new as the calendar winds down. After all, kids are getting back to the basics in school, and as the cooler season nears the oven will be heating up to keep the cave warm. What better time to share more recipes?
First though, I need a trip to the store to restock the pantry with the basics.
I'm a procrastinator.
And thanks to the internet I'm becoming very proficient at avoiding things I know I should be doing while spending less time on things I want to get done. A simple click and I can catch up on the latest news from my friends via email, which compared to FaceBook is about the equivalent of snail mail. Or I can manage to get blissfully lost following those embedded links, I think they're called advertising, to scope out the latest can't-miss-'em-deals or promises of instant gratification. Whether weight-loss, age-loss, debt-loss, or the latest build-ville game, I am one of the gazillions of people easily suckered into seeking out the niftiest, neatest, and newest shinies when they come along.
I really can't place all of the blame on the internet as it is my inate and rarely sated curiosity that gets me into this mess. What about, what if, or what is, are questions so easily answered by typing keywords or phrases into a search engine and then being provided thousands of pages addressing or answering a query, that it proves difficult on most days to pull oneself away from the overload of accessible information. I just know clicking on that next page will allow me to discover the secret to life itself, if not the four thousand and one recipes for baking the world's best Snickerdoodle.
Don't get me wrong, I like the internet, perhaps a little too much in that I find it makes a handy crutch for my procrastination excuse and allows me to think I'm accomplishing something even if all I'm doing is staring at a screen for hours. I could try to rationalize my addiction. After all, I watch a few television episodes, catch up on my favorite sports teams, listen to albums, check out book reviews, view movies, play games, find new recipes to try, and.... a never ending cycle.
It's much too easy to hide out in my cave (read apartment) and allow the anonimity of the internet to define, shape and control my life. Hence, part of the reason I started this blog/journal was to provide an outlet and take those few baby steps forward to break out of the rut of procrastination while combining a way to share my two hobbies. Reading and baking, while getting practice in with the writing thing, and working on becoming organized.
I don't expect leaps of improvement in my behavior over a few weeks nor months, but as gradually as I fell into the abyss, I believe I can eventually scale the foothills and turn the procrastination into something a little more productive. And on that note, I'm off to read a paperback....
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