Mexico- The Staves
(Source: Spotify)
Dose of Good- 4/9/13
I am so erratic with this space. One thing I do without fail: find time to read other people’s blogs! Here are some things that have been floating my boat already this morning. (Other things non-web related: I woke up to birds and cool spring air, my coffee is GOOD, I’m barrelling into one of the most exciting weeks of the past 22 years- and feel pretty cool about it all-, my mom and dad arrive tomorrow afternoon, naps, fresh air…)
1. Green Kitchen Stories’ post on “fika”- the Swedish version of a coffee break. Sounds like my style indeed.
http://www.greenkitchenstories.com/banana-bread/
2. The Yellow House- A New Domesticity. This is the tip of a beautiful iceberg; examining why a return to the kitchen/garden/country is perceived as cultural regression (especially for women).
http://casayellow.com/2013/04/01/a-new-domesticity/#more-2703
3. Sprouted Kitchen- To Feed and Be Fed. Yet another beautiful lifestyle piece about nuturing one another.
http://www.sproutedkitchen.com/home/2013/3/19/to-feed-and-be-fed.html
4. 
That feeling.
Enjoy, explore…
Lemon Pepper Kale Chips
(Pictured before dehydration)
One head curly green kale tossed with olive oil, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, sea salt, pepper and nutritional yeast.
Curry Pepper Cauliflower Soup (or, “I Have a Case of the Februaries and All I Want To Do Is Cook Warm Things”)
Sauté onion and garlic in a sauce pan until they become translucent. Add one box of veggie broth plus one cup of water. Chop half a head of cauliflower and one head of celery- bring to a boil. Add curry spice, nutmeg, turmeric and other seasonings of choice. Once veggies have softened, add a cup of cooked quinoa and kidney beans. Serve sprinkled with black pepper…
Homegrown Life
This shit ain’t lived in the beige times
No
we like to play
messy, exhilarated, wrecked and wrong.
We eat humanity and sensation
instead of Wheaties
we papîer machét hearts together
to set ‘em out in a monsoon.
We burn what we build and
act like it was an accident
No-
that’s just us teaching
us
impermanence.
That’s just our fumbling baby fingers
dipping into the whoa
of the big-world backdrop.
Oh, God,
I met you in play.
Let me stay up too late
and lose myself
drop me on the edge of
bumfuck nowhere
and giggle while I try to get home
let me kiss too many and too long
let the days stretch on
build me up to crash on down
imbibe me with the risefall
of your brightest, hottest, molten
Homegrown Life.
Hit me with it.
Scour my skin with this rollin’ terrain.
Goodnight, Amen.
Reminders of perspective and focus keep popping up for me. This is great. Tune into what continues to make itself present in your life- that alone focuses you towards the lessons available, the next step o’ the ol’ journey. “Soften and stay” with your life, as Geneen Roth would say.
On Clean-Ups and Inconvenience
I am not afraid of spills anymore.
There was always the familiar sequence of crash, splash and cry and home. Some explosive mistake, a messy nightmare, an oblong length of idle clean up.
Mom would sigh like all her blustery frustration was split with the glass of milk. Somewhere to let it out.
But we always dealt with it. Hands and knees teamwork, progress, complete.
Cleaning up spills turned into a game of radical acceptance; one that begged you to set aside your plans, deadlines, ETAs and mood. Suddenly your only option was to deal with inconvenience in the moment or let it worsen, sticky and rotten, with time.
Spills now:
Red wine on the tan carpet, splattered on cupboards. Quinoa scarring the embedded tile floors. Vinaigrette waterfall in the fridge.
Same choice: to ignore it, or to pick up the washcloth and scrub.
I say scrub for your life. I say feel the roots of your day wash out from underneath you and surrender yourself to the three minutes it takes to vacuum, bleach or wipe.
It’s in sneaky moments like this that we learn how to tango with inconvenience.
The more you make friends with the sticky, stenchy, pain-in-the-assness of it all, the simpler you flow.
For Dad:
A man was admiring his friends’ Porsche. The engine was immaculate.
Man: “How do you keep your engine so clean?!”
Friend: “I never let it get dirty.”
Boom.
Thanks Mom and Dad for teaching me, however inadvertently, the value of living a life which you haven’t let get dirty. I value the pits and pops of pain along with the rest, but from you I’ve learned how to clean it up and move on. I am so grateful.
Weekly Dose of Good
It’s been a week of travel, friends and many couches slept on. It leaves me tight on sleep but full on adventure. These people and places are the trappings of love… and there is much to love, indeed!
Such as…
http://theyearinfood.com/2011/11/twice-baked-sweet-potatoes-thanksgiving-wins.html
That recipe. It is delicious- sweet potatoes and parmesan together? Who knew?!
http://www.daniellelaporte.com/inspiration-spirituality-articles/10-lame-ideas-concepts-beliefs-to-let-go-of/?inf_contact_key=9fb3cfd24aa46d32f015cc29c211a803feae864cd3dc4b7eed5cb623f8fe7189
Resolutions have a certain value to them- a practice of envisioning, a reflective time. To me, starting over has as much to do with past release, the gentle let-go, as it does with forward vision. Danielle LaPorte nails it here.
http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2013/01/2013-cleanse/day-1
Bon Appétit’s Food Lover’s Cleanse. Enough said?
There’s a little brain food for y’all. May your New Year prosperous be.
Pulling it Together
Home for the holidays means two things for me: Michigan home and Grandma’s House. My sprawling family gathers in upstate New York for a few days of relaxation, rememberance, conversation and food. Other highlights (not to be forgotten) are the local movie theater and Chinese Buffet. Needless to say- and widely agreed upon- these few days out of the year are also when we consume the highest volume of food. Fudge, pecan cookies, apple pie, homemade mac ‘n’ cheese, chocolate covered cherries, on and on it goes…
I enjoy these delights. My mom’s fudge is a taste for the ages. I also know that if I fall completely out of my plant-based-bliss, things go downhill.
In this salad, I’ve used my grandma’s cranberry orange chutney she had in the fridge. I love being able to genuinely compliment the food my family makes- we are not short on good chefs. Finding a way to incorporate at least one or two of the dishes served at our giant family meals is important to me. I toss them in salads or have a smaller portion next to my extra veggies. I used to think eating healthfully was isolating- I get closer to finding a balance each day.
Cranberry Spinach Salad
Organic Baby Spinach
Baby Carrots
Red Onion
Broccoli Sprouts
Avocado
Cranberry Chutney (or just cranberries and orange slices!)
Lemon Juice
Turmeric
Sea Salt
Toss or arrange all veggies on a plate. Squeeze lemon juice over them and sprinkle with turmeric and sea salt. I had a little bit of Annie’s Goddess dressing on mine, as well.
Lunch salad of romaine, ruby kraut, Brussels sprouts, brown rice, cashew cheese and a drizzle of soy sauce. Greens, greens, glorious greens!
