Ultra-late night baking.

I don't know what possesses me sometimes.

It's 1:26 AM. I'm in the kitchen.

I just had to bake. Really. It was essential.

So at 10:00 PM, I started blending my first concoction, pumpkin muffins.

That wasn't so bad. Whip those up, put them in the muffin tin. Took me about an hour.

11:00 PM. That's still a decent time to go to bed. For me, early even.

But I wanted cookies. What kind of cookies to make?

Chocolate. But I don't only want chocolate. A friend mentioned sugar. Ooh, I haven't had sugar cookies in a long time.

Two separate recipes were found, and I set to mixing.

This whole process is complicated by several things. One issue that I always run into while baking is my humble equipment. We don't have much in the way of dishes and utensils and pans and bowls and whatnot in this house. And that's not a problem so much. But it sure would be faster if I could have several things going at once, instead of completing one, washing my dishes, and starting over again. Oh, and we only have one oven rack. Which means on pan of cookies at a time.....cookies!!! Oh, crud, I got distracted and the cookies are getting too dark!

Where was I? Yes, baking is slow-going in this kitchen. Also, it's a mess in here right now. So not only do I not have enough bowls, I have limited counter space.

But I wanted chocolate cookies. And sugar cookies.

So here I am. The chocolate ones are all done. And I'm nearing the end of the sugar cookie dough. Hey, I may be done with this before 2:00! That's four hours from start to finish. Not bad for over a dozen muffins and who knows how many dozens of cookies.

All this the night before I'm supposed to drive approximately six hours to Champaign, IL.

I have a chronic habit of staying up later the night before I have something different and important to do. Most often when that something different and important is a trip. Who needs to see the road?

And I still haven't packed.

Here's hoping my friends I'll be seeing this weekend are okay with a delirious me.