Grasmere Ginger Bars (England)

It's Leap Day! I'm not sure if one is supposed to wish a happy day for this day, but it certainly deserves an exclamation mark at the very least. Today is the day that brings balance to the calendars by acknowledging those pesky extra hours that hang out there in our solar system. Or something like that;)

Today certainly brought some balance to my own life in the form of a very rare occurrence, rarer than even every four years. A SNOW DAY! Yes, the district I work for called off school for all students and staff. That never happens! Last year it snowed 20 inches on a Saturday night, and I was back to work Monday morning as if nothing happened. This is a treat. And what is even more spectacular, the district we live in did NOT call a snow day, so I sent my family off to work/school/daycare and have been finding some personal balance by resting and restoring a bit of myself in the blessed quiet of my own home.

This is easily the craziest time of year for me with work and coaching demands on top of parenting and family demands on top of life's general chaos. It's the end of the trimester. It's doctors' appointments. It's planning a spring break trip. It's tournament time. But today I could take a breath, relax, slow down, lounge a bit, and just have some time to myself.

 Even the way I spent my day was a balancing act of sorts. For the first few hours I lay in bed reading a guilty pleasure novel in my jammies with coffee. No music, no noise, just quiet. I eventually roused myself to get dressed for the day. I worked on my writing project, which hasn't even taken a back seat lately, but was left at the curb at some unknown location to gather dust. It felt good to jot down several hundred words. I sat for a solid hour, with soft music and hot tea, and jumped right back into the dystopia I've had so much fun bringing to life on the page.

And of course, I had to throw in a recipe for today. I paged through the book and back, considered something complicated with my extra time. That idea was squashed pretty quickly. Instead I made some simple Grasmere Ginger Bars, a bar that balances the health of whole wheat flour and the decadence of lots and lots of flour. Just a bit crispier and thinner than traditional gingerbread, these are yummy.

I'm hoping I don't have to wait four years for another opportunity like this!!!