Monkey Bread

Tonight, I decided to bake something. In all honesty, I probably would have baked about any ol' recipe that popped up on the screen, but I really wanted something sweet, something challenging and most importantly, something which I had the ingredients to make. I found a recipe for a "coffee cake" that was really monkey bread and I thought- "Eh! Why not?"

It's probably always a good idea to read the comments at the bottom of the online recipe. Phrases such as, "took me four hours" and "really time consuming" are always a helpful way to gauge how much you really need to have this particular food dish. I didn't read them.

I have a thing. Well, I have many things, but I have this one thing about following directions. I will, if at all possible, avoid following directions even if only in the most innocuous, mundane ways. For example, the recipe called for warm milk and I refused. I'm sure this had some incredibly significant effect on the bread and I know it would have taken me the enormous amount of time to press "reheat" on the microwave, but Noooo. Not me, I thought to myself. Maybe everyone else who made this warmed their milk, but me- HA!

Honestly, please tell me, why can't I just follow the darn instructions? Because I'm actually having to spend more time thinking about ways to not follow the directions rather than just DOING WHAT THEY SAY.

I'm writing this post before the darn thing even comes out of the oven. Tonight I have washed more dishes than anyone should ever have to wash in a single sitting. So many dishes, in fact, that my neck hurts from staring at the sink. I have gotten my hands sticky (ew), I have flour smeared across my midsection and I used an ungodly amount of butter for this silly adventure but I feel fabulous! I feel like my entire universe is balanced. Everytime I remove something from the oven I think about how amazing it is that separate entities could become one with as little effort as stirring and heating.

We live in a beautiful, incredible world. Why not go on an adventure with your cooking supplies and your own stubborn, willful self? Oh- there's the timer. Better go see if this recipe is worth keeping!