The end of summer has always brought with it some transitions–the weather, a new school year, fall activities and harvests to name a few. This fall brings with it some pretty major transitions–I am moving into a new house in a few days (and will explain my lack of posts for the next week or so!) and am looking for a new job. This summer was a big transition in itself–ending a two year master’s stint and readjusting back into a normal pace of life–which, by the way, has been incredible 
.
During my day, I like to ease from one activity to the next, taking small steps to adjust to something new–I even call it “ease-of-transition”. I think it is helpful to try to give yourself a little bit of buffer time or maybe something that indicates to not just your mind but your body that you will be doing something new. For instance, tea does this for me. In the afternoon, I will have a small pot of green tea with something small and sweet (like biscotti)–it’s like a tiny pause–and it is tremendously helpful for readying not only my mind but my body for something new I need or have to do. These pauses are ways that I simply be nice to myself–I can tend to push myself pretty far when it comes to working or doing something, especially when I am concentrating hard. So it is nice to set up these little moments to give yourself a break; I’m (still) always surprised when I work better after them too!
I am the same way with packing–my main activity for the next several days. We all know that one of the most despised activities on the planet is moving–not necessarily the end result because that can be fantastic–but it’s the packing, going through all your stuff, having to decide what stays and what goes, what goes to good will and what goes in the trash, it’s a lot of work. So, to ease my mind a little, I find that doing a little every day keeps me going, otherwise if I try to do it all in one major swoop I can get totally overwhelmed.
September will bring with it a whole new slew of transitions: new house, (looking for a) new job, new neighborhood, new routine. It’ll be nice to settle in both figuratively and literally! I can’t wait to bake and cook with the abundance of fall either, there will be some good things to come for sure . I wish you well if you are in any transition! And if you are, it may help to take a pause for a minute even if you don’t think you need one–it always makes me that much more efficient and ready!
Cheers!
Vanilla Bean (taking a break) Biscotti
recipe adapted from Alice Waters
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Measure and stir together:
2 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 vanilla bean’s pods–split it down the middle and use a butter knife to scrape them out
In another bowl, combine:
3 eggs, at room temperature (this is really important, it will take more than twice the time if they are cold–a quick trick is to put them in a bowl of hot water from the tap for about 5 minutes) 1 cup sugar 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest (optional)
Beat together until the mixture forms a ribbon. Stir in the flour mixture until just incorporated.
On a parchment paper lined baking sheet, form the dough into 3-inch wide loaves, about 3 inches apart. Smooth the loaves with damp hands. Make for 25 minutes, or until lightly golden. Remove the loaves from the oven and let cool for about 10 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 300 F. Cut the cooled loaves into the 1/2 inch thick, turn the cookies over, and cook for another 10 minutes, or until golden brown.
Bon appetit!
