I’ve been so busy lately that I haven’t even had time to get my usual winter blahs. Maybe they’re still coming, but I don’t know. I don’t know much of anything anymore, not having any time to stop and think.
But there. Complaining over. After all, I’m at home today on a beautiful sunny afternoon, trying to enjoy sitting around. One of the side effects I’ve noticed of being super-busy is monkey mind. It’s a Buddhist term that I learned from reading Nathalie Goldberg, who used it to talk about that restlessness of mind that makes it difficult to slow down, concentrate, and write. Well, in case you can’t tell by the previous awkward sentences, I am having difficulty with that writing part. But beyond that I’ve gotten so used to running around that I’m having a hard time staying put at home and just appreciating my leisure time. I keep looking around for something to clean, something to panic about, something to put on my to-do list. When I find something, I do it halfway and then get distracted by another thing that I really should be doing instead.
I thought I’d pin myself down at home for a while by focusing on monkey bread. This is a long overdue recipe preparation, as it’s from a blog I was paired with a long time ago for a taste & create event: The Vegetarian Hausfrau. She writes twice a week from Germany, and her site offers many wonderful, healthful recipes, so of course when I was browsing through it, I got fixated on something unhealthy. Monkey bread has sweet dough, slathered in butter and heavily layered with sugar and cinnamon. Just what I need to calm (or, um, sedate) my monkey mind.
This is a lovely old-fashioned recipe that’s easy to assemble. The only time-consuming part is the rolling of little dough balls, which must then be dunked in melted butter then coated in a sugar/cinnamon mixture. It’s like mini cinnamon rolls when it’s baked. And it’s so good that my monkey hands couldn’t resist pulling pieces out to put in my monkey mouth before I even finished photographing. Take that, monkey mind! Thanks to The Vegetarian Hausfrau for a great recipe!
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February 5, 2009 at 6:36 pm
Andrea
That is a beautiful monkey bread! I love your analogy of the monkey mind, it makes so much sense in our hectic world. I hope things slow down for you soon (although that doesn’t sound like it’s in the cards) but I can see rolling all of those little balls as being somewhat meditative. Glad you’re back! ;-)
February 6, 2009 at 7:02 pm
EB
I LOVE LOVE LOVE monkey bread. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm.
February 7, 2009 at 1:49 pm
Isabelle
Nice to see you back! I too have been having trouble finding time to post…
I LOVE Natalie Golberg! Her writing inspires me so much. Have you read Banana Rose, her novel? It’s amazing.
oh, and the bread looks good too!
February 8, 2009 at 12:33 pm
Jesse
Welcome back – I’ve missed your posts!
I’ve always wanted to make Monkey Bread, but shy away knowing I’ll eat the whole thing in one sitting. I have monkey mind too, perhaps this is just what the doctor ordered :)
February 9, 2009 at 12:42 am
Laura
Glad you liked the bread and it gave you something to occupy your ‘down time’. Sadly, I really could eat the whole bread myself in one day, therefore I have to limit how often I make it. ~the vegetarian hausfrau
February 14, 2009 at 8:46 pm
Jude
I like making monkey bread. Rolling those little balls does take time but it can be fun :)
February 17, 2009 at 2:14 pm
Sarah
Love monkey bread (hate monkey mind), and this looks amazing. Cannot wait to try this out!
November 16, 2009 at 6:46 pm
Katie
Hey there, my mom used to make a recipe similar to this but she used pillsbury buscuits to save time and just quartered them. I think I’ll try your recipe added with her technique. Looks delish!
November 22, 2009 at 11:11 am
hannehanne
Katie,
I hope you have fun with it!