Monday morning, 6 a.m.

You know these kinds of things are meant to be when you're shopping at a store you usually don't go to and you see King Arthur whole wheat flour on sale, and your boyfriend asks you that same afternoon, "What are these for?" referring to a bag of raisins that's been sitting in the pantry for months, slowly dwindling down with each bowl of oatmeal (which was my answer, though I firmly believe that everyone should just have a bag of raisins on hand).

It was all leading up to my early morning foray into the world of English muffins. I saw this post on The Kitchn and thought, why wouldn't I? Though I had to get up a whole hour earlier than usual, I miraculously woke up without an alarm. Also, I must say that kneading a ball for 5 minutes is a great way to wake up. You can just kind of lean over with sleepiness onto that mass of dough, over and over. It's mindless and therapeutic. Kind of like a kitten who's got its eyes mostly closed and is purring and kneading on a pillow (the kind of thing I think about when I'm sleepy, obviously). I also did myself a favor by putting the dry ingredients together before bed last night. I did myself an extra favor by doing my pilates mat workout while waiting for the dough to rise this morning. I even had time for a quick shower before cutting out the muffins. I was feeling on top of the world before I even put them in pan.

And while they were cooking, I went out to check the weather and water my garden. When I came back inside, my coffee was ready and I had time to drink most of it without putting it in a travel mug. This is always a key element to a good day.

I made mine a little smaller than I think most people expect to see them, but I like them this way because either you feel good for just having one, or don't feel that bad for having one more.

As recommended, these are delicious straight out of the pan, but I toasted mine for extra crunch (though they're a little tricky to get out of a pop-up toaster) and put a small bit of butter and honey on it. Goooood morning.