Kitchen Therapy

I was lingering in my studio scribbling thoughts into my journal, updating my written daytimer, looking for ideas I had saved on Pinterest, listening to Spotify and feeling restless.  My extended vacation had come to an end. Somehow my sister and I had turned two weeks together into what was really like 6 weeks together. Me at her place for two weeks…two weeks each of us at home doing our thing but keeping in touch regularly due to our renewed connection, followed by almost two weeks of her coming here.  During her time out west we spent 5 days at my aunts lovely cottage at Sun Peaks.  Its been a full summer up until now.  Not that I don’t have work to do.  I do.  I am keeping busy working on other peoples furniture, baking for their life events and decorating and sewing etc. The odd day at an engineering firm.   But I was restless.  I felt like I had to do something to calm my spirit.  So I decided to make my way to my kitchen and see what I could cook and/or bake for my people.  It felt like I hadn’t  done anything for them for a long time. Well….because I haven’t. So often they smell wonderful aromas in the kitchen and get all excited and I have to tell them “this isn’t for you”.  It was their turn.

I pretended I was a farm wife for the rest of the day.  Donned my red plaid apron.  Clipped my hair back.  Washed my hands.  Fixed myself a cool drink, turned on Ella, browsed my collection of cookbooks and began to make the biggest mess you have ever seen.  I believe I dirtied every pot, pan, utensil and kitchen appliance I have.

I wanted to make some bread.  There is just something about homemade bread. So I decided to whip up a loaf or four.   Well one doesn’t really whip up bread. It’s actually a caring, nurturing task with many stages but the results are well worth the effort. Just to present a fresh, homemade loaf of bread to my peeps. It’s right up there with being a surgeon-almost.

During one of the breads rising stages I began to make chicken pot pie.  I wanted to make good use of some frozen pie pastry. While the pastry was thawing I cooked up all the elements of the filling. Using ingredients like chicken (naturally), potatoes (I’d never put potatoes in this before), carrots, sauteing onions and celery and herbs.  Making a creamy, chicken broth roux.  I could have eaten the filling in a bowl and ditched the pastry but I’m a pastry gal at heart and usually devour anything wrapped in this flaky, buttery shell.   I had enough filling and pastry to make three pot pies. One for tonite, one for later and one to give away.  Sorry, it’s already spoken for. I’m taking a meal to a friend recuperating from surgery so….however, my own family came down to see what smelled so good and we’re delighted there was one for them.

The bread was coming along nicely and I couldn’t wait to pop those loaves in the oven and fill the house with the aroma of homemade heaven. I turned a couple of loaves into cinnamon raisin.  Next time I’m going to try sugar bread.  That’s where you actually put sugar cubes into the dough and bake them in, says the girl that’s supposed to be weening herself off the addictive substance.  I still like to call myself a girl. Is that OK if your 61?  Women are people I see at airports and at church and at law firms and reading the news on TV at night, running entire countries. Not girls baking bread in their modest kitchens and enjoying it.

Since I was already surrounded by mess, I figured I would make some fresh pie pastry and make a few fruit pies to freeze, giving me the opportunity to work on my pie art.  It needed to chill so I found a spot for it in the fridge and went back to my bread.  And my oatmeal jar cookies.  I was making jars of oatmeal cookies by measuring all the dry ingredients into a quart jars and layering them.  When the whim hits us for fresh baked cookies we just add butter, eggs and vanila and voila.  By the time the Pot Pie and the bread was done and cooling and I managed to wash all the dishes, I was too tired to work on pie art so I guess that will be a project for another day.

This is another day and I think I’ll go bake a batch of those delectable little cookies. I’ll post the recipe soon.