I'll be honest: I thought I would have written something by now. I could have written a post all about how my thesis defense went (I passed) or about how my birthday was (lovely) or about starting my third year of teaching (on Wednesday). But the occasion for each of these possibilities came and went without so much as the start of a draft.
Maybe it's because I spent so much of the summer hunched over my laptop that I don't feel like sitting down to write much at the moment. For the time being, I would rather luxuriate in my pleasure reading and throwback video game playing and friend seeing (that is, when I'm not hunched over my work computer getting ready for school). These pursuits are not particularly intellectual or productive, so they can feel wasteful. Certainly, they sometimes may be, but they can also be an important way to cultivate the practice of rest. Taking the time to step away from work and do something I enjoy reminds me that I am a person, not a robot. My purpose is not solely utilitarian––as a human being, I am called to delight, not merely to do.
When I enjoy leisure properly, I find myself feeling rested and rejuvenated for the work at hand; when I am overvaluing my free time, I find myself feeling robbed by the demands of "the real world." Like most things in life, it's a balance.
Here's what I read, cooked, and created in the month of August.
What I Read
Emmy & Oliver, Robin Benway (★★)
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Suzanne Collins (★★★★)
I've Got the Light of Freedom: The Organizing Tradition and the Mississippi Freedom Struggle, Charles M. Payne (★★★★)
Why We Can't Wait, Martin Luther King, Jr. (★★★★)
If you want to hear the rationale behind my rating, head to my Goodreads for full reviews.
What I Cooked
I love a good homemade pizza, but unfortunately, my husband does not. That being the case, I made this for a guest on a night when he wasn't home. Due to some unfortunate timing, it ended up sitting before being served, so the crust was an absolute disaster, although I wonder if I would have fared better if I had used the pizza crust recipe I normally do.
Crust aside, however, the pizza was incredibly flavorful. The burst tomato sauce was so easy and delicious––I dare say it would be worth doing for any pizza that needs a tomato sauce. The cheese, prosciutto, and pesto complemented it beautifully.
This recipe fascinated me the moment I first laid eyes on it on Instagram. I made it in my Le Creuset mini cocottes, and again, unfortunate timing issues beset the finished product (I left the assembled but uncooked dessert on the counter for a while, which allowed the sugar to turn too syrupy to caramelize). Yet again, the flavor was so good. We all need a light summer dessert that's easy to throw together, and this is a good recipe to keep in your back pocket for such occasions.
Because I am occasionally a good wife, I made chocolate chip cookies when Mitchell mentioned they sounded good. Although I grew up using the recipe on the back of the chocolate chip bag, I find that it makes crunchy, flat cookies, and I do not enjoy cookies that can be described with such adjectives. So I decided to give this recipe a shot.
The cookies did end up being quite good––Mitchell actually commented that they might be the best he's ever had. I found that they were a little dry left over, but they did still stay soft, so I can't complain too much.
By some whim of the meat industry, ground turkey has been cheaper than ground beef lately, so I've been cooking with it more regularly. I don't think I've ever made turkey burgers before, but I gave these a shot. I forgot to pick up green onions and thus had to sub red onion, but other than that, I followed the recipe as directed.
I'm not sure that cooking them on the stovetop in my cast iron skillet was the best decision ever since they were quite reluctant to be flipped in one piece, but the flavor on these burgers was excellent. I topped them with sliced avocado, melted pepper jack, and homemade pico de gallo and served them alongside guacamole coleslaw and oven fries. Allow me to reiterate: they were real good.
What I Created
An unpublished and unfinished blackout poem
I think that's it
As this month closes and September begins, I am about to start my third year of teaching, and I know this will be rewarding yet demanding work. Teachers are great workers, but we tend to be terrible resters. I'm grateful that I figured out early on my teaching career that the teachers who were constantly talking about feeling burned out were also the teachers who were grading till 9 o'clock at night, batch lesson planning on the weekends, and making it their personal life mission to rescue every single student. Their constant work made them less effective, not more.
There is a time for everything––a time for working and a time for playing. Playing when we ought to work makes us sluggish and selfish, but working when we ought to play wears us out. Whether you are a teacher, a student, a parent, or a person whose connection to the academic calendar has been severed, you need rest. Make sure you are getting it in a form that feeds you, fueling you for the task ahead.