So, after a few up-and-down moments with the ol’ Addison’s the past couple of weeks, I’ve had to do some thinking about stress.  I’ve reached the following conclusions:

(a) stress is a funny thing; and

(b) I like to make biscuits.

Let’s review.

(a) stress is a funny thing;

when I was first diagnosed with Addison’s disease, it was heavily emphasised that I would need to manage extra Cortisol was required during times of physiological stress. That means, whenever my system is trying to fight off a virus or deal with an infection or injury, I need to take extra Cortisol.  Easy enough! Not so much for the emotional/psychological stress.  In the past month or so, I’ve learned that there’s a point where psychological and emotional stress cross over, where the emotional/psychological stuff has a physiological impact. So, this month’s take-home lesson: ongoing emotional stress, however mild, leads to physiological responses.  Write that down, kids, it’ll come in handy.

(b) I like to make biscuits.

A few weeks ago, I made nine jillion cupcakes for the RSPCA’s National Cupcake Day, and swore off cupcake making forever.  (Probably not forever.) The most recent manifestation of stress-cookery has been biscuits.  Sweet, sweet biscuits. They’re quick and satisfying to make, and look cute, and are easy to share.  Many people will baulk at a full slice of a fancy cake, but a single biscuit (or two, or three) is a much simpler commitment.

These sexy (albeit uncooked) babies are Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles.  I love the word Snickerdoodles, and wish it applied to more things than firm biscuits. They are extremely tasty! I doubled the amount of cayenne pepper to give them a bit more zing, and they’re awesome. A little firmer than I usually like my biscuits, but awesome nonetheless.

Second up, pumpkin biscuits!

These moderately ugly little buggers are, like the Snickerdoodles, from Post Punk Kitchen, which is mostly coincidence: Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies.  Goddamn, they’re tasty, though.  Chewy and soft and spicy and incredibly delicious.  Really easy to make, too: a simple wet and dry batter.

In addition to my many biscuits, I baked half a dozen pumpkin/bran muffins (haven’t sampled yet: may be bland and terrible) and a batch of muesli.  Tomorrow, I may set my sights on something higher and more challenging.  Like toast. We’ll see.