There might be something to those Wordless Wednesday posts. I've sat here staring with a million and one thoughts running through my head, but I can't settle on one thread. I'm passively watching the unraveling thoughts of my brain float around the room, past present and future all in one place. Remembering, lingering, forgetting, planning.
Isn't that what the transitional season of fall is for? Adjusting from summer ventures to winter duties? I dunno.
But I do know that this season still gets me, every time. People give spring too much credit, I think, giving it almost ethereal qualities. I never feel that in the spring. For as long as I can remember, the magic has always been in the colored leaves and cloudy skies of autumn. This is the season where things really happen, and you can't help but feel everything around you.
This season transports me back to homeschooled mornings. On days when I'd finish ridiculously early, like around 9:30 or 10:00, I never gave a second thought to putting on my wellies and just roaming the fields and bike trail. I guess I didn't realize other kids usually made plans after school, or maybe even had a job to go to. I didn't realize that being with yourself so much wasn't really normal. And I certainly didn't realize how much of a privilege those fall ramblings really were until now. Especially since those fields have been sold, and I've left schoolbooks behind for quite a while now. And that's really strange to my still very young self. I miss oversized sweatshirts and playing with kittens, I miss my mom listening to Andrea Bocelli and peeling carrots, I miss my dad working in the wood-scented shop where we had numerous life talks, I miss only having 45 minutes of computer time, I miss the fireplace and the sound of my dad cutting wood by the barn, I miss swinging on my favorite tree, I miss stealing bits of bread dough when I caught my mom in the middle of kneading. I really grew up in a unique environment, and I appreciate that very much now. I really do.
It taught me to appreciate the finer things in life, like having the time to make yourself a danged breakfast. Two years ago, I had finished what was to be one of my last full seasons at Schuster's (little did I know), and a few friends ended up banding together to buy me a farewell/birthday present. Knowing my culinary pursuits, probably better than anyone else actually, they got me the cutest little kitchen torch. Two years later it finally got broken out of its drawer and was filled with butane, and I recalled a favorite blog of mine taking breakfast to the next level by bruleé-ing her greek yogurt. In the 24 hours I get off of work and in my own home, I don't really have a whole lot of time or ambition to make much these days, so this just fit the bill. And knowing how I do, a swirl of Nutella just had to happen. Plus, I had hazelnuts left from this rich thang, so obviously this was meant to be.
This decadent-but-not-too-decadent breakfast is nice to split with your mum mid-morning, it's just enough fuel to get you out and about with your camera for a few blissful hours before you head back to the daily grind that is life.
Greek Yogurt Bruleé
Ingredients:
- 1 cup Greek Yogurt
- A few tablespoons of Nutella, warmed up slightly
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- Hazelnuts and extra Nutella, for garnishing
Directions:
Place your yogurt in a heat-safe bowl and swirl in the Nutella. Sprinkle the sugar evenly over the top, then drizzle the honey over the sugar. Very carefully, use a bruleé torch to fire the sugar until it becomes golden brown and bubbly, about 5-10 seconds. Garnish as desired with hazelnuts and Nutella, treat yoself.
Sources: adapted from Curvy Carrot
