Hello again, I am back with a bonus blog this week. Maybe I was right last week and this is something I could continue to do for a long time (right now it still counts as an assignment), or I am feeling the effects of fall break and have had time to slow down these last two days with fewer obligations (but let’s stick with the first idea).
So, as I mentioned, it’s fall break, and while I didn’t get to go home or to Canada (not sure why but I saw a lot of people there); I still traveled, I went to North Carolina to cheer at the Syracuse V UNC football game, and then got time to relax and just be alone the last two days.
I will be honest; this break was needed for my mental health. I had plans to fill my days by going out with friends and going out to dinner. I woke up Monday morning and decided none of that would be happening (I had to realize it’s okay to cancel plans to take time for yourself instead). So, I went to the store and got the last few ingredients to make some delicious pumpkin bread (we finally have my favorite fall weather, so I needed to complete the vibes).
Last Week: This week:
I also just love baking, it calms me down during the process, and then I always get to share what I made! (my friends came home Monday night so it was perfect). Here is the original recipe. My sister actually helped me find this because the one we normally use is at home, but this rivals so I might have to make a switch. Preheat the oven to 325°F, then grease and flour two loaf pans
In one bowl combine: 2 cups of flour ¼ tsp. salt 1 tsp baking soda ½ tsp baking powder ½ tbs pumpkin pie spice In another bowl mix (you can use a mixer but I did it by hand): 2 cups of sugar 1 ½ sticks of butter Once combined, add 2 eggs, one at a time Then mix in one can of pumpkin, Add in the flour mixture, and once combined divide into the two pans
Bake for 65-75 minutes (mine took 70), let cool (definitely steal a piece when it’s warm though) and enjoy! (the second loaf can be frozen too)
I turned on a good movie in the background, not one of my all-time favorites (that honor resides with Tangled and the live-action Cinderella from 2015), I wouldn’t say I am a Disney adult, but I was a Disney kid and I love the nostalgia. Instead, I turned on the movie Amsterdam, it was something I had seen before but not for a while, so I was okay with missing some parts and then got re-invested in the rest.
This movie brought the right vibes somehow, it has elegance, mystery, a love story, war, and (my favorite aspect) a scheme that is being unraveled the whole time. It’s a long move so it was perfect to have on while baking took so long! I also needed to prep my dinner and throw together a quick pasta salad for the week, it just has pasta, pesto, cucumber, tomato, bell pepper, and mozzarella pearls tossed in a container and into the fridge.
When I finally stopped being a chef, I thought maybe I could be productive and work on my five-page paper that’s due this week (don’t worry, I already started so I could take my time with this). I actually ended up spending about three hours between more research and writing, but here's the shocker, I enjoyed it, well I enjoy the topic. I will let you all in on a secret, it really is okay to enjoy the work you do for classes (example a: this blog; example b: this paper). When you enjoy what you are learning in your class, rather than pretending you hate everything about it, you don’t notice the time going by because you want to learn more. I was reading about the history of South Africa’s government (that’s my thing right now, it might not be yours, but also don’t ask why it’s mine) and it is research I want to put time into.
I ended my night with another slice of pumpkin bread (heated up, of course), some Harry Potter (again fall vibes) and relaxing with my roommate. I did kind of a lot when I lay it all out, but it was things that were done for me, and instead of draining my energy it refreshed me more than I knew I needed.
All this to say, cancel your plans sometimes if you need to, no one will care, and you will feel a lot better for it in the end!
~ Kelsey
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