Using Mindfulness to Get Through Holiday Stresses
One of the “lessons” we are taught over the holidays is being patient and gracious with both strangers and those we love. Yet sometimes it is those we love who try us more than strangers and we can find ourselves in the middle of blown out of proportion arguments over family gatherings. Sometimes this is because we don't really have that much in common with those we share blood with, sometimes it is due to the added stress of the holidays and trying to make everything perfect that leads us to these spats. Regardless of the reasoning as to why, now is a perfect time to remember our graciousness and use our mindfulness to get there.
I was reminded of this lesson over Thanksgiving as I was preparing the desserts for the party I was attending. This is a much lighter load than I am used to, usually I end up cooking most, if not all of the meal but with my family not traveling due to COVID I was tagging along to a friend's place. Despite the task being far simpler than normal, I still was scrambling at the last second when I realized I was missing a few ingredients. While I was finishing up the pie crusts and letting them chill before rolling them out, I remembered that I needed to make something gluten free as well. Realizing it was the last moment before stores closed Wednesday, I flew out of the house to grab some gluten free flour, deciding I would figure it out after I bought supplies. “It can't be that hard.” I told myself.
After getting the flour, I started investigating recipes for pie crusts. Pate brisee is always the recipe I use for at home pie crusts so I decided to search “gluten free pate brisee” joking to myself that the French cultural police were going to be arriving at my door any second now. Without much luck, I decided to just substitute the wheat flour with gluten free. After it had chilled I realized rolling it out was not going to be a possibility. The whole thing annoyed me from the beginning. Despite having a specific diet I follow myself, I found myself questioning the validity of the concern and the need for it. “Maybe I'll just say it's gluten free.” I thought for a brief moment before pushing the thought away. I realized the hypocrisy in myself yet still was annoyed with my current predicament.
For anyone that bakes you will know that the lovely thing that gives dough stretch and the ability to be rolled at all is in fact gluten. If you bake at all you have been warned countless times about the dangers of over and under working dough and the inedible crusts you will have as a result. This stuff was not going to roll, there was no under or over working the dough. There was no working the dough period. Now on the verge of being late and more than frustrated, I walked out of the kitchen and gave myself a moment. For me the best reset in a stressful period is to simply lay down on the bed. Not for a nap but simply to let my full body relax. I shut my eyes and focused on my breath. I forgot about the time or being late and simply held myself in the moment.
After about 5 minutes I was relaxed and an idea came to me on how to fix the gluten free crust. Since there was no gluten there was no worry about making the dough tough or working it unevenly so I resigned myself to taking pieces of dough and pressing it into the sides and bottoms of the pie pan. After pressing it through I ran my hand across it several times ensuring the dough was fairly even and continued with the pie making process. I did attempt to make beautiful edges but the dough would not hold any shape so again we went for something basic. I finished the rest of my deserts and was able to get to the party on time and deliver desserts for everyone at the event, despite their dietary restrictions. Though it could have been very easy to allow myself to get flustered and not finish my task or not deliver a proper dessert for all of my friends I was able to use my mindfulness training to overcome. It may sound silly or like a trivial thing, but this moment of fixing myself allowed me to better enjoy my holiday, provide a dessert I was proud of, support a friend through a lifestyle change and be present in the current moment. Yes it was only pie but so many of the things that “ruin” our day are so minor. Everything is ultimately only pie and it only becomes an issue when we allow it to transform into a monster that consumes our happiness and mood. Reach out to us with any comments or questions at info@bullionite.com and visit our blog at https://www.bullionite.com/blog-index with other lifestyle and health tips!