Days for Books and Baking

Just like for everyone else, life has changed dramatically here too. There are days when I feel like I do a good job of keeping a schedule and being productive, and there are other days when I don't seem to do much at all despite my best intentions.

I thought that I would feel motivated to learn new things, but instead, I've found myself drawn to activities that I've always loved.

Books

Let me start off by saying that for the first few days that we were home I did not read anything. After grabbing a stack of books that I'd been meaning to read forever, I couldn't manage to find any books that held my interest. It took finding a sequel of a book that I had read and loved earlier in the year to get me back to reading.

Right now, books are what is helping me to handle being at home. I've been avoiding heavy books and gravitating towards stories that wrap me up in another time or place.

Here are a few of my favorites in the past few weeks.

Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh - The main character is on her way to the imperial palace to marry the emperor's son. Her convoy is attacked by bandits, but she manages to escape. She disguises herself as a boy and attempts to join in bandits in order to learn who wants her dead. The plot moves quickly, and the characters are fascinating. There are only two books in this series, but I wish there were more.

My Plain Jane by Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows, and Brodi Ashton - This is the book that got me back into reading. While it is technically a sequel, the two books don't have any of the same characters. This book is what you'd get if you mixed Jane Eyre, The Princess Bride, and Ghostbusters. It is absolutely ridiculous and wonderful.

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe by Agatha Christie - I've read a couple of Agatha Christie books in the past and loved them. Seeing that a friend had read a couple recently inspired me to pick them up again. I have yet to be disappointed by any of Agatha Christie's mystery novels. At this point, I'm just reading whichever ones are available as ebooks through my library because a lot of her work has a long wait-list to read online. I will be so glad when I can physically go to the library again!

Baking

Besides reading, I've been doing more baking than I usually get to. This has probably been the best part of the past few weeks. I love baking, but I haven't spent much time on it in years unless you count watching The Great British Bake-Off.

My husband gave me a KitchenAid mixer for Christmas, so it's been getting the use that it deserves lately. I've been baking both old and new recipes. While it's fun to try new things, I appreciate being able to make things that I've made before. When I'm making something that I feel comfortable with, I'm able to get into a flow. When I'm done, I feel relaxed and I've got something sweet to eat. So, it's a win all around.

Naturally, most of my recipes come from Pinterest. Here are the ones that I've made and recommend trying.

White Cake - This one was super easy to make. It's the first one that I tried to get me back into baking, and I had no issues.

Funfetti cake - I used the same cake recipe from above except I threw in a tone of sprinkles to make it a funfetti cake. I also used a different buttercream icing and put sprinkles all over the top. It wasn't as pretty as I had hoped, but it tasted fine.

Peanut butter chocolate banana bread - A few years ago, I went through a phase where I made this every other week. I have no idea why I stopped. It's so easy and it tastes so good.

Caramel and chocolate bark candy - This recipe is so easy it's almost like cheating. All you do is make caramel and stick everything in the oven for about 5 minutes. Except for the crackers on the bottom, it's all sugar, so it's probably best not to make it too often, but I love it.

We're currently in the process of moving to a house (that we bought!). We've basically had to completely take the kitchen apart, so I won't be able to bake for a few weeks after this Friday. I already have recipes lined up for when I can get back in the kitchen though.

I'd love to know what you've been reading or what you've been baking lately. Are there any hobbies that you've had more time for recently?