‘Tis the Damn Season

I’m starting a series on some of the recipes I’ve made over and over and over again. Some tried and true, some that evolve each time. I think baking should be as free as cooking.

We have to start somewhere so let’s start where it began for me.

Maybe you’re like me and (especially) in the depths of the cold New England weather, the seasonal depression hits. hard. It’s easy to get stuck there, and I have many many times. I’ve found that my anxiety and depression dim a bit when I can focus that darker energy into something that needs to be perfect. Enter my baking journey.

I was living alone at the time and new to Rhode Island. I needed something, honestly anything, to keep my attention from the hole that I felt inside me. I didn’t know anyone and didn’t know how to start making new friends. Turns out there isn’t an instruction manual for adulthood?

I’d go to work and come home. I didn’t bother turning on the lights once the sun set. I’d have wine and snacks for dinner and fall asleep on the couch watching Harry Potter. I didn’t know how to pull out of the rut I was in.

It started with quiche. I’d just make it all the time. I’d find a way to use the groceries I had and put them all together into this series of vegan quiche. It eventually grew into trying new things, buying cookbooks and following along with each step. I’ve always loved cooking but lost touch with that part of myself for a while.

Quiche became pies, and pies turned into cakes and cookies and bread and everything in between. It was stimulating to have something to get excited about, to look forward to. I started having old friends from New Hampshire visit and I’d make dinner for them like I used to. I started making friends and everything was finally changing.

I’m keeping it real here. It’s not all roses all the time and I won’t pretend like it is. Mental Health is rooted into the foundation of Blackstone. Whether it’s a cake or a candle, it was created to ease my mind in some way.

I’ll tell you now that when you come for a recipe, that’s what you’ll get. I’m not into intros that go on forever. You don’t need the background on each of my family members and what the weather was like that day. I’ll spare you the scrolling.

So, here we are. I’m in a better place mentally (three cheers for therapy and medication) and I’m working on settling into what feels like my place in the world.

Thank you for either following me from the first chapter of Blackstone Handmade or joining me on the latest one. I’m happy to have you here.

xx Amanda