I love cooking and all the prep work that goes with it. Sometimes I even like the prep work more than the rest of the cooking process. It is meditative to me, the peeling, cutting, dicing, and slicing. At the end of the day I spend quiet time with myself in the kitchen, pour myself a glass of wine, and begin preparing dinner. Because my life is sooo busy these days my dinner making process is usually somewhat unplanned and spontaneous. I plant myself in front of the fridge, contemplate all the vegetables, fruits, meat or fish (if I thawed something) and staples, and figure out what kind of a meal I can conjure up. Then comes the mindful part, the part where I could almost forget that I am supposed to make a meal for my family, when chopping becomes an activity in its own right. Peeling, chopping, dicing, sipping, whoosh into the pot, and all over again, peeling, chopping, dicing….very relaxing and grounding at the end of a busy day.
buzzing bees
Our new bees arrived this past week-end. The day they arrived one of them got caught in my hair when it explored the garden. I panicked and tried to whip it out of my hair – wrong thing to do. Bees don’t like sudden movements. So the poor thing stung me (and lost its life, which I felt really bad about). But that’s not what this post is about. What it is about is this: yesterday I was in and out of the garden many times, hanging up laundry. Each time I came outside two or three bees soon enough buzzed around me. Maybe they wanted to warn me not to come too close to their home, maybe they only wanted to check me out (my bee language skills are not that good yet). This time I moved very slowly in awareness of the bees. I talked to them (I told them that I wasn’t going to harm them) and let them “sniff me out” without any sudden movements. And I passed the test without getting stung.
Don’t think I am crazy when I am trying to convey that I attempted to communicate with the bees. I am currently reading Martha Beck’s new book “Finding Your Way in a Wild New World,” about consciousness and how to operate within that nonmaterial plane. Check it out. That is the plane from which we can communicate with animals, that is what I was trying to do with the bees – the second time around.
the geraniums are back out
Although it’s early in the season, I think the geraniums are out for good because it has been such a warm winter and early spring.
There was a time when I didn’t know that geraniums are perennials. I rebought them every year like pansies. Now come November I take them in and keep them on the kitchen counter by the window where they bloom all winter long in their popping red. The children don’t like their peculiar smell and my husband finds that they take up too much space on the countertop. But I can’t bring myself to let the geraniums freeze to death in the fall and then rebuy new ones every spring. Not only is it wasteful and feeds that industrial machine, but I like feeling the circularity of the seasons via the geraniums. There is comfort in knowing that some things don’t change, that, come fall, the geraniums will be back inside with us.
an egg is not just an egg
Why do we complain so much about the price difference between organics and conventional foods? Quality – in eggs in this case - is something inherent that arises out of how and where the chicken lives, what it eats, and how it is treated. When eggs are grown in conditions as Nicholas Kristof describes them in today’s New York Times, is it any wonder that eggs from farm hens that run around freely and feed on grubs cost more? Their shells are strong and healthy, their yolks a deep yellow or orange, and the whites don’t run. While science has not yet come up with quick ways to measure the energetic and qualitative difference between a healthy and a weak and sick egg, yesterday’s cat food story illustrates the difference clearly. So, an egg is not just an egg. Without balking many people pay more for the perceived value of some name brand purse, then complain about the high price of organic foods. I believe we need to reevaluate our priorities.
the best cat food
Yesterday was cat food day again, which happens once a month at our house.
“Garbage in – garbage out,” or the flipside “quality food in – health out,” is a motto that works for us as it does for animals. Our older 3 ½ year-old tomcat was raised on “high quality” dry food - out of ignorance. Well, the consequences began to show last year. He had gained weight and had become lethargic. So, besides getting him an adorable little black female companion from the shelter, I researched cat food. Since then
I have been making my own from scratch based on a recipe by vet Lisa Pierson. It is a mix of raw and semi-cooked chicken, gizzards, livers, and various supplements. The results speak louder than words. Within three months our cat had naturally slimmed down and regained his vitality. Both cats have shimmery shiny fur, chase each other through the house, and maintain an ideal weight. Our holistic vet confirmed that making your own cat food “is the best thing you can do for your cats.”
it's over so fast
My daughter remarked last night that it was over so fast.So much anticipation and preparation goes into the weeks before Easter. About three weeks ago we brought Magnolia branches in from the garden, from which we hung blown-out painted eggs. Two weeks before Easter I always buy a hyacinth. Its wonderful scent, which we all associate with Easter, spreads through the entire house. Then we plan the menu. Lamb is traditional, as are asparagus and herbs, and anything green, tender, small and new, since Easter is about spring and renewal. We hide large decorated cardboard eggs for the children, which my parents send from Germany. The eggs pop open and get filled with smaller items, such as foil covered dark chocolate eggs or small chocolate bunnies. This year the weather was so pleasant that we hid the eggs outside in the garden (we wrote a list of the hiding places so we wouldn’t leave unfound eggs to the raccoons).
And then a few hours later it was all over. So is the journey towards the day more important than the day itself?
not in the moment...
Just messed up my mayonnaise because I was not in the moment. While I was making macaroni & cheese I also attempted to make mayonnaise. So much for multi-tasking. Multi-tasking is way overrated and does not work (I have actually been preaching that for years now, just need to remember it myself sometimes). In order to finish with the mayonnaise at the same time as the macaroni were going to be finished cooking I rushed streaming the oil in - and it collapsed and became runny. Waste of eggs and oil, waste of time. I always wonder about multi-tasking when I watch women in the supermarket on their cellphones. They don't actually shop and phone at the same time, they usually stop in the middle of the aisle, or slow their movements to slow motion, then they resume shopping when they are done with the conversation.
Being in the moment and concentrating on one single thing at a time accomplishes so many things: we do whatever we do deeply, we do it well, and we do it wholeheartedly, something like meditation in motion. I'll remember that when I redo my mayonnaise this afternoon.
deep in the moment
You don’t have to meditate to be deeply immersed in the moment. Today a friend and I cooked deep dish breakfast pizza in our daughters’ classroom as part of their social studies curriculum. As we discussed Midwestern cooking and the history of pizza with the children we existed truly and only in the moment. There were simply no other thoughts, no other distractions. We existed as a unit with the children. The children in turn really enjoyed the non-standard classroom routine of chopping bacon and ham (and tasting some), scallions, mushrooms and peppers, then mixing eggs and ricotta cheese, and spreading it on the premade pizza crust. Transforming a few ingredients into a delicious dish is so creative and rewarding. Best of all for me is watching the smiles on teacher and parent volunteer faces as the cooking smells begin to waft across the classroom and out the door into the hallway. Simple things can become incredibly rewarding when done deeply, and they are as meaningful as meditating, and just as in-the-moment.
holistic living and artisanal cheese
holistic living and artisanal cheese - what do they have in common?
This blog is about holistic living, which for me is authentic living. Take the difference between processed cheese and artisanal raw milk cheese (or the difference between a Twinkie and a homemade oatmeal cookie). Raw milk cheese is authentic cheese, the way cheese was originally made from simple ingredients that came straight from nature, while processed cheese is an industrial factory-made product that emulates cheese. When I am talking here about authentic living it is about deep living, life with all its emotions, joys, sorrows, life beyond material acquisitions and the rushing around from one activity to the next, a life true to who we are.
Life, to me, is about finding your true self through interaction with people and your environment. There is something deeply satisfying about spending quality time with friends and family, a satisfaction we can’t quite recreate through the purchase of a new dress or earrings. Much has been written in recent years about living in the moment. When I cook for example I am so self-absorbed that I forget everything around me and am only aware of what I am making. That is when I truly live in the moment. That is deep living, or holistic living, or authentic living. It is meaningful and satisfying.
Stay tuned for more.