Ann is blogging today.
I spent my first 22 years on the Front Range of Colorado – growing up in Fort Collins and then at Colorado College in Colorado Springs. I came back for another 6 years while Andy was in Vietnam and then grad school at Colorado State U, during which time both of our kids were born and I became very aware of what early mornings – baby in tow – looked like. Maybe that’s why when Andy points out a lovely Sonoma sky, I sometimes scoff. I tell him I know breathtaking beauty when I see it – and that’s a Colorado sunrise.
I think it’s those formative years with those amazing sunrises that helped make me a morning person (that plus my genetic makeup). Even as I enter my 9th decade on earth, I still get up at 6 am each morning (well, sometimes it’s 6:15 – and I won’t divulge the time I go to bed!). Andy, in OurLittleCorner, claims he would be a morning person too – if it weren’t for his penchant for reading the NYTimes every morning.
The Cambridge Dictionary defines a “morning person” this way: someone who feels awake and full of energy in the mornings.
If the photo below makes you think of yourself in the morning, read on! There is help (lots of it) out there on both the benefits of becoming a morning person, as well as how to do it. Good luck!
Cleveland Clinic: How to Become a Morning Person
Psychiatry.org: Are there Mental Health Benefits to Being a Morning Person?
The NYTimes: A (Former) Night Owl’s Guide to Becoming a Morning Person
Fortune: Being a morning person comes with major benefits for your brain and body. 5 ways to become one
I think my favorite suggestion from perusing all of those articles is to “make morning more pleasant.” The Cleveland Clinic suggests “Perhaps a hot cup of coffee, sipped in silence, while you take on the daily crossword puzzle? Maybe eating a healthy breakfast while you read a book? Knowing that something pleasant awaits can help you take that first painful step out of bed. “ As you know from an earlier blog, Andy and I are big fans of the NYTimes Connections puzzle. It can almost always make us smile – even at 6 am!
I have no idea whether the science in this video about Early Birds vs Night Owls is accurate. Whatever. It’s a fun watch – and very cleverly done.
And we’ll conclude not with a Colorado sunset (the “sun setting” seems a wee bit ominous) – but another sunrise – this time over Denver’s Sloan’s Lake – and with a recipe for a little something for you to snack on while you enjoy the view.
If you want even more recipe ideas to help you enjoy the mornings, the NYTimes offered these up.
Sarabeth's Morning Cookies
1 c flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp Diamond kosher salt
1 c old-fashioned rolled oats
1 c finely crushed shredded wheat cereal
1/2 c almond flour
1/2 c shredded unsweetened coconut
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp freshly grated lemon zest
2/3 c sugar
2/3 c packed light brown sugar
8 T butter, cut into ½ inch cubes and brought to room temp
2 large eggs, beaten
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl whisk the flour, baking soda and salt. Add and mix in the oats, cereal, flour, coconut and nutmeg. In another medium bowl rub the vanilla and lemon zest into the sugar and brown sugar until well combined.
Beat the butter on medium-high with a paddle attachment in your mixer or in a food processor, about 1 minute, till smooth. Gradually add the sugar mixture and continue beating till smooth, 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs. Gradually add the flour mixture, beating until just combined.
Using a 1¼ inch diameter ice cream scoop, scoop the dough onto the pans, about 1½ inches apart. Cover the cookies with a half sheet of parchment, place another half sheet pan atop and press to flatten the cookies to about 1/3 inch thickness (or use the palm of your hand to accomplish the same thing). Repeat with remaining dough.
Bake until light golden brown, about 15-17 minutes. Cool completely in the pans, on wire racks. Cookies will keep for a week in an airtight container – or freeze.
I’m up for the cookies, except for the coconut. One question: how do you cut butter into cubes “at room temperature”? The sunrise pix are wonderful, too.
Good point about the butter, Bob! I’ve corrected that in the recipe. I don’t think you’d even notice the coconut…it’s very subtle.