Early mornings

 

Today is Saturday.  Last night I made peanut butter cookie dough so that it could chill overnight.  This morning I baked that dough and made multiple batches of lava field brownies.

All that cooking meant that I was up early this morning.  When I get up early in the morning and start a bunch of cooking and baking, it's quite a peaceful experience.  Sure, I might be a little drowsy at first, and it might take me a while to get going.  But once that food starts coming together, and the dawn begins to break and I'm already ahead of schedule ... that's a nice feeling.  I often put on quiet music when I cook in the early pre-dawn hours, and between the tasting and the baking and the music, it all makes for an enjoyable beautiful morning.

When I feel like I'm the only up in the whole entire world, I kind of like that.  And when I'm preparing delicious food for people who will appreciate it, I feel like my time is well-spent.  So to me, it's worth it to be up early.  Plus, if I'm up early, I can do everything at a leisurely pace and that makes the kitchen experience much nicer.  

One typically hears of all the fast-paced activity that goes on in a commercial restaurant.  But for me, I'd just as soon have a more casual relaxed approach.  And that's what I get when putting out food from my own kitchen.  Then cooking is a ritual of sorts, not just something that is done as quickly as possible to get a lot of food to a dozen tables all at once.  If the day comes when I have a dozen tables waiting for food, everything will be organized and done with a schedule that allows for a more relaxed pace, even if those tables have to wait just a bit longer for the plates to show up.  I think it's important that the people making the food enjoy what they're doing as much as the people eating the food enjoy it.

So take your time making some food when you get the chance.  Don't hurry.  Don't rush.  Enjoy the ritual.