An Emotional Baker

I've been long absent from my blogging. I think it's just because I got lazy about taking pictures, and actually uploading them. I've been cooking. I've been baking. And, now that the weather is cooler, I've been doing a lot more of both.

Lately, I haven't been happy at work. I won't go into the specifics, since my company has a very explicit "No Blogging About Us" policy. But, I will suffice to say, without mentioning what company I work for, or any specifics at all, that I have not been in good spirits while there, or at the end of my day.

I've been told that there are people who are emotional eaters. They get upset, and they dive into the chocolate, the ice cream, the chips, the macaroni and cheese. I always sort of identified myself as one of these. I've found out over the last three weeks that I was wrong. I don't emotionally eat. As a matter of fact, that's exactly what I do. I, emotionally, don't seem to eat. I've lost more weight by being unhappy at work for three weeks than I did by going to the gym four times a week for two months. It's not that I'm skipping meals (or snacks), really. It's just that I sit down to eat it, take a few bites, and am...done.

Now, one would think that, if one had very little appetite, one would lose interest in cooking/baking. Not the case, apparently. Last night, I was left to my own devices. I had had a particularly rough return to work from a week-long vacation. And so, I unleashed myself upon my kitchen. I made a Cranberry-Banana Bread with fresh, tart cranberries sprinkled throughout it. I put together a dinner of Garlicky Stewed White Beans with Green Peppers, and stood over the pot breathing in the glorious garlic smell as it simmered. Well, the garlic smell mixed with the cinnamon smell, from the baking bread.

It seems that I might be an emotional baker. Tonight, after a dinner of Ramen noodles (yeah, I went there--I used real bouillon in place of their MSG-filled packets, though. I told you I haven't been hungry!), I set about making Banana-Chocolate Brunch Cake. I even did all of the dishes when I was finished (a rarity--that's usually Kurt's job). As I type this, the house is slowly filling with the warm cinnamon scent of the cake.

I should probably make note, as the girl who is all about local food, why I am using so many bananas. As I was food shopping on Sunday--for the first time post-CSA season--I stumbled upon a "reduced to clear" rack in the produce department. There, staring at me, was a wrapped package of past-prime organic bananas. There were five of them, for the unbelievable price of 57 cents. I couldn't leave them behind. I actually consider my purchase of only ONE package to be a sign of great self-control. I easily could have walked away with 30 over-ripe bananas, perfect for baking, for all of $3.42. My freezer would have been fat and happy. But, I resisted.

My oven timer is ringing. It is time to remove the banana cake...and maybe think about baking some cookies.