An ocean swell is a series of smooth, long-period waves generated by distant storms or consistent winds far out at sea. Unlike choppy local wind waves, swells travel thousands of miles, carrying energy across deep water before breaking upon reaching shallow coastlines. They are characterized by regular intervals and consistent direction.
It’s February, friends! This month feels like the hump day of winter. We have plowed through the holidays and the start of the new year, getting ready for that break. In the ocean, when the swell breaks, it may cause a force that allows you to surf in, or it can jar you and knock you around a bit. Such is life both in and off the water. Well, I am experiencing that now just once a month into the new year. My resolution to do less has already crashed roughly to the shore. Remember when I said I was going to do less? Well, life said… hold my beer, because I took on a new obsession. I have discovered baking, and it has kept me busy!
Yup. Baking has tossed me into the churn of the water. Wet, rough, and salty. And that is just my first foray into this madness with chocolate chip cookies with sea salt (fitting), blueberry muffins, banana bread cake, and a slew of other delicacies that have me sneaking butter and flour into the house like illegal substances to give me my next hit of sugar and texting my neighbor for eggs when I run low. The same neighbor who encourages this madness by beckoning me over with her Tupperware filled with extra cookies. I have found myself calling my sister, the person who brought me into this madness with her gateway blueberry muffins, asking for links to just one more recipe. I wake up with regret when I see the bowl of the KitchenAid sitting dirty in the sink because I had to experiment just one more time the night before with the last two sticks of butter that had tempted me from the side of the fridge. I hit my low point when I received a new sourdough starter wrapped in an innocuous brown box and hid it in the fridge so the family would not find out.
It’s not just a problem of what this could do to my waistline, or of becoming dependent on my stretchy pants from overuse and experimentation. It’s the depletion of funds that happens with each buy. Luckily, I have found a cheap dealer of eggs and unsalted butter at Aldi, but I know I am just one click away from the deluxe stand mixer I have been eyeing and the lies to my husband saying it will be for more efficient food preparation for the boat, using his weakness to support mine. It’s a tricky line I am sifting through (with the new gadget purchases on Amazon), but I can’t stop walking on the dark side of chocolate. Actually… dark chocolate with the above-mentioned salt. So what should I do to get back on course? Hmmm… I am thinking absolutely nothing because this new destination is too deliciously fun.
I have baked with my great-niece and sister, with music and dance breaks, creating the most fun, chaotic experience you can have. I have gotten so much joy from seeing my family take that first bite with a big smile. Sharing recipes with friends and learning new techniques from passionate bakers is like being invited into a special club I didn’t know existed. But what surprised me the most was how the careful act of leveling and spooning flour, measuring ingredients, and timing the delicacies to perfection gave me a piece of focused calm, where the rest of my busy life had no place to interrupt. You just don’t get that making a grilled chicken salad.
So I will end this with the wise words of Queen Marie Antoinette…
“LET THEM EAT CAKE”
