Do You Ever Cook at Night When You Can't Sleep?

We were thinking about this last night... when we couldn't sleep. Do you ever head into the kitchen instead of reading a book or turning on the TV?

We realize that cooking while groggy might be dangerous. (Maybe steer clear of the chef's knife.) But cooking a simple meal in a quiet kitchen can be soothing.

Our other thought was that, if what's keeping you up is the thought of having to make six dozen cupcakes the next day for a school bake sale, getting started might actually alleviate the stress and help your mind rest.

Do you ever cook when you can't sleep?

(Image: Flickr member Suzba, licensed for use under Creative Commons)

Comments (10)

This happens on very rare occasions, and only when I have no lunch for the next day. Still, the last time I went to cook while I was sleepy I started making pasta and fell asleep, only to wake up to my smoke alarm earning its keep.

This is why I stick to my Xbox for curing insomnia.

This happens all the time to me, but I think it might be the other way around; I can't sleep because I want to cook! That way, there's some good food to look forward to in the morning and I don't have to worry about finding the time between work hours and such.

When I suffered from serious insomnia (2-4 hours of sleep each night), I baked and sometimes cookied more often than not. I do sometimes stay up cooking when I have a lot of food to prepare for something going on the next day, too.

Yes! I often find myself in the kitchen at 2am whipping up something for my family or to try a new recipe. I somehow like the 'quiet' time I have for myself and for some strange reason, I like to use this time to also clean the kitchen. Nothing like owning my own space and feeling good about it.

well... no, I've never gotten out of bed to cook at, say, 3am, but I have stayed up cooking until 3am on several occasions... does that count? I have, however, surfed the web for recipes and food blogs on the rare occasions I had trouble sleeping.

When I can't sleep I don't get up to cook but lay there planning new recipes and marrying flavors. Making notes of stuff I've come up with and then I'm to excited to sleep because I can't wait to get up and start cooking.
It's a real problem, my family and friends always hope I've had a sleepless night (LOL)

No way - that would totally wake me up. I made the mistake once of getting online in the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep and I was ruined for the next day.

I read myself back to sleep. That usually does the trick.

I have an aunt who is the queen of the stress-insomnia induced dead of night baking bonanza. My cousin told me recently that he was well into high school before he realized that not everyone's mom gets up at 3 or 4 to make babka. She was always our favorite babysitter when my bros and I were little. She'd line us up, announce what we were baking, and bark orders at us (she's a CEO now). We were her cake slaves.

But me? I read when I can't sleep.

I wish I could, but nope. That would be too loud and wake my husband up!

Yep! When I was really sick and medications I was on caused me to have insane insomnia (I could only sleep a few hours a night) I would force myself to stay in bed till 4am, then I would make cinnamon rolls from scratch (2-3 hours)! That way, when my roommates and/or boyfriend woke up, we all had a tasty breakfast. It made the illness stuff a wee bit easier to deal with.