Hey There, Distraction. Thanks for kicking my arse.
I whipped into my studio/storeroom just after the kids went to sleep, with all intentions of posting a quick, easy chocolate-chip cookie recipe to help use up your extra Easter eggs (cause if you're anything like us, they're still coming out the wazoo and any pleasure gained from eating them has been replaced with a bloated self-loathing. No? Oh, it's just me then. Carry on.) But I got sucked down the internet rabbit-hole and found myself reading my old jewellery business blog, Trove.
I honestly haven't given it too much thought since we closed the business down last year (a move I in no way regret. The timing was just bad for us to have such a big, involved business.) but reading over the journey Sparky and I (and Isy for some of it) have taken did make me feel...funny. I remember so many late nights, so many books scrawled with plans and calculations and figures and collections and sketches and logos, so many big big dreams. I don't think I realised until just now just how close we were to making those dreams a reality.
But that's the only bad thing about dreams becoming reality: the reality part.
The long, long hours, the crappy pay, the time spent away from the kids and Sparky, the hundreds of hours of stress and guilt.
Life is a constant see-saw balancing act, where you need to give and take to keep the overall balance there. Sometimes you tip one way, other times you lean in the opposite direction. Sometimes you even feel stable and balanced.
For us, Trove pushed the balance too far in one direction and made it really difficult to tip back. So, when I read about the excitement and promise that was in our business, I need to remind myself that this quest for a simple(r) life means there's plenty of time for everything, just not at the same time.
*And here ends today's diary entry.
Continue on for a delicious choc-chip cookie recipe, that allows you to use up your extra Easter eggs...
You'll need:
125g butter
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup SR flour
3/4 cup plain flour
1/2 cup rolled oats (I often use muesli if I'm out of oats)
1 cup choc bits or chopped up Easter eggs
a handful of sultanas1. Melt butter and peanut butter over medium heat. Once combined, transfer to a large bowl and cool for five minutes.
2. Add brown sugar and egg, mix well. Add flours, oats, chocolate and sultanas. Mix well to combine.
3. Roll tablespoons of mixture into balls, place on baking paper lined trays and flatten slightly with a fork.
4. Cook in preheated oven (180C) for 10-12 minutes or until golden. (By around 12 minutes they tend to go quite hard and crunchy. 10 or 11 minutes leaves them chewy.)
Delish, and calorie free when consumed for breakfast. (Not that I ate two.)