Hot!

I can usually gauge the temperature of my office by how soft the chocolate stash is in my desk drawer. Lately the church AC has been working just fine and my chocolate is stable, but our AC at home recently broke…not a good time for this to happen with temperatures in the 90s the week of bread baking. Thankfully most of the bread for Sunday’s celebration is already baked. My husband is grilling his beer cheese bread now while we sit outside catching a hot breeze. He was impressed by how fast the butter got soft in the heat of the kitchen before warming it on the stovetop to melt. This morning I picked some fresh mint for a Greek bread I hope to make, and by the time I got home the mint leaves had already dried to a crisp. Another positive: my cacao plant seems to be thriving in this tropical-like weather after its adoption a few weeks ago. Life is not always comfortable, but I try to find opportunities to move past the unpleasantness, realizing that my discomfort in no way compares to what many others endure. Hot? Yes, but joyful.