I See Hearts

I am sitting here wanting to write tonight and am coming up a bit dry.  I could write about another food, include a recipe and that would be fine, but feel some kind of uneasiness coming up from my belly button.  That is my stress point.  Some people get stiff necks, creased foreheads (I get these too), but I also get a pulling feeling coming from the navel.  Who knows why that is.  Maybe something to do with some chakra.  I have decided to be mindful for the moment and let my fingers do the walking.  This is what my experience is right now.  I hear fire engines out there and the dull passing of trucks off of 113.  It is dark, but I can't see any stars.  I hear whispering in the other room and I can't quite make out what is being said.  My black cat is resting quietly on the bed and I can see the soft rise and fall of his breath.  My husband is next to me and I can hear his slow breathing and can see him typing.  I experience myself here sitting, legs crossed, tense in the belly and I can hear my heart.  I can hear the rhythmic pounding in my ears and it is deafening.  I am craving something sweet and so much that my mouth is watering.  I am aware of all of this right now...what else is there...right now?  I take a deep, slow breath and the roaring wave of my heart slows and I soften.  I have been trying to practice being mindful a lot since I had some heart issues a year and a half ago and it has been interesting and difficult.  Something so basic as paying attention is like chasing a rainbow at times.  Pema Chodron suggests stopping what we are doing a few times a day and taking a few breaths to bring things into perspective.  I stop, try to hear a jingling bell (that works best for me), breathe and then fall back into  the past, future worry cycle.  Why is it that it is so difficult for us to stay present and see things the way they are.  I tend to be negative about a lot of things so my world is colored with gloom and doom a lot of the time.  I strive for the moment...as I mindfully nag at my children, mindfully rush from one place to another and mindfully slip something out of my mouth that I know will mess the situation up.  It is like I am watching a train car go out of control.  I see it happening and am fully aware, yet I am not able to intervene.  I say it and then regret it in the same moment.  I guess I am making some progress, because at least I know what I am doing even though I can't seem to stop it.   Did I mention that I see hearts everywhere?

I can't resist a food suggestion here....a nice local lunch idea

Apple Cheddar Quesadillas

Corn or flour tortillas (I buy locally made)

Local apple of choice thinly sliced

Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Heat tortilla..add grated or sliced cheese and sliced apple on one side.  Fold over and let cheese melt.  Enjoy!

Apples and why do things make us laugh

I really want to write about apples, but I have something else on my mind.  Tonight, I was sitting with my son while he was conducting a science experiment on density.  He is a very funny kid and we seem to laugh at things that other people don't think are funny.  He was experimenting with displacement and was measuring this with various items we collected.  He filled the graduated cylinder (it was very narrow, mind you) and then dropped the cork in.  The cork was proportionately larger than the cylinder so when he dropped it in, it just fit and made a funny pop sound as it clogged up the space.  Now, I have no idea why that tickled our fancies, but we both started laughing at the same time and couldn't stop.  My stomach hurt so badly, but I (we) just couldn't stop.  It reminded me of the time that my sister and I took the same class at a community college in So. Cal and the professor wiped some chalk on his nose.  Then  unwittingly he wiped some on his check and then the forehead.  By that time, my sister and I had had it and couldn't contain ourselves.  We were laughing hysterically and not quietly I might add, and the guy stopped the class and asked us why we were laughing. This was college! We were not able to answer as our fit continued and we ended up escorting each other out doubled over.  WHY?? I just can't figure out why we laugh at certain things and in my case inappropriately.

  I guess we laugh when things are incongruous, out of context and also when we are nervous.  We laugh when other people are laughing....Yes it is true...laughing is contagious.  Humans don't learn to laugh.  It is instinctual and begins early in life.  It helps us along our journey as social beings and it is good for our health!  Laughing relaxes us and releases stress hormones, decreases blood pressure, enhances the immune system and helps us make friends. There are laugh for health groups and even yoga laugh groups that claim that the contagiousness of laughing causes participants to move into a trance like state.  It also, in my case, can get you into trouble when you laugh out of turn.  I still don't know why we thought a particular cork in a particular graduated cylinder was so incredibly funny, but I am glad that I got my dose of good medicine in for the day.  I can feel my body smiling as we speak.

To get to the apples....I have an apple tree in my back yard, which is no small feat as my yard is the size of a postage stamp.  We actually have four fruit trees and I really am happy about that. We did not plant the apple tree, so did not have a say in the variety which is rather tart.  My sons like to eat the apples, but most people would pucker up too much to finish.  The fruits are really great for cooking with however, and I am going to pass on an apple recipe to you below.   Lots of apple varieties are in season now and it is a perfect time for getting your apple a day.  My grandmother used to make her own apple sauce (and pluck her own chickens and make her own horse radish) and she would put red hot candies (heart shaped ones) in at the end to make the sauce pink and hot.  I loved it! I also loved the apple kuchen, the apple brown betty, the cobbler and pies.   This recipe is an original Louisa May Alcott  Apple Slump.  It is incredible and a seasonal favorite.

About 6 apples, cored, peeled (if you want) and sliced

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 t nutmeg

1/4-1/2 t cinnamon

1/4 t salt

Topping

1 1/2 cup flour (unbleached or whole wheat is fine)

2 t double acting baking powder

1/2 t salt

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg beaten

1/2-1 c milk

1 stick unsalted butter melted and cooled

Mix apples, brown sugar and spices.  Place in buttered dish and bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

Topping

Sift dry ingredients

In a separate bowl, mix wet ingredients

Add to dry until just combined (do not overmix)

Spread over apples and bake at 350 degrees for around 25 minutes

*I like to add ginger to the spice list and sometimes walnuts and raisins to the mix.

Serve with ice cream, sorbet or whipped cream.  Inhale the aroma and enjoy!

Edibles

I had the occasion to visit Napa the day before Thanksgiving, which is about an hour's drive from Davis.  It was a rainy day and there was a lot of traffic before the holiday.  It wasn't too bad getting to the turn off for Napa, although 80 east was at a standstill.  My son complained a lot of the way, however, and I was feeling a bit wincy (a made up word of my son's meaning yucky like when you eat too many sweet tarts).   I was a nattering nabob of negativity about our return trip.  In my mind's eye I saw us sitting in the car with my son in the back seat doing somersaults and whining at the same time. I also realized that although I was focusing on the immediate "bad stuff" (traffic), I was also falling prey to the the ugliness of the freeway and its concrete, plant-less scenery.  I decided to roadside botanize from the passenger seat to see how many edible or medicinal plants I could find.  When I made that my focus, a lot of the other ugliness seemed to disappear.  There is a whole world on the side of the road that few of us take the time to see.  It reminded me of when I used to work for The Department of Fish and Game (another lifetime ago) and we surveyed small creeks and streams that looked nameless and uninteresting to passersby.  We found  rich ecosystems in  small spaces and it made  the whole area seem more alive and friendly.

Anyway, to get back to Napa....The first plant I saw was the all mighty fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) which is a native to the Mediterranean. It is a perennial herb and we see it all along our highways with its smiling yellow flowers.  It is a delicious, edible plant that tastes like licorice and is really great roasted. I love it in salads. You can also use it dried as a spice and the seeds taste great and are chewed to alleviate stomach pain and eliminate bad breath.  Fennel is an ingredient in "Mother's Milk" tea, because it supposedly helps to increase the quantity of breastmilk in nursing moms. It also is the food for some butterfly species' larvae. I look for it fresh in late summer and use it dried other times of year.  Another plant I saw was white sweet clover (Melilotus alba), which is actually in the legume family.  It is a huge bee plant meaning that bees love it and lots of honey is produced in fields planted with it.  It is a biennial herb that can be used cooked or in salads, but personally I would leave it for the bees.  Growing alongside the clover was cheeseweed (Malva neglecta), which is considered an invasive nasty weed.  Poor thing...so neglecta....it does have some redeeming features as it too can be added to salads.  As a medicinal it is used as a laxative and expectorant.  It is mucilaginous...gooey that is and is used as a poultice for inflammation.  The last plant I saw was in the broccoli family, Brassicaceae, although we were going too fast for me to identify which species.  I can tell you that in a pinch you could add this safely to a salad for some zippy flavor.

 Now don't go collecting roadside plants, because as luscious as this all sounds, it's polluted out there along the road.  Also, after seeing, "Into the Wild" last night, I would be sure what I was collecting and eating wasn't in fact toxic.  Poor guy mistook one pea for another and didn't make it.

After looking for plants on the side of road and talking about them with my sweet husband, I felt more optimistic and able to contemplate the ride home, which ended up just fine as we found a different route and avoided the traffic altogether.  I think that when we connect with nature even in a small way that things out there waiting for us don't look so bad.

I hesitate to offer this recipe, because fennel is not in season, but we can all dream.  Chestnuts, however, can be found at local farmer's markets this time of year.  Use chestnuts that have been kept damp and cool or use canned chestnuts.  This recipe is from Deborah Madison's book, Vegetable Soups

1 cup lentils, soaked for 1-2 hours

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/3 to 1/2 cup each diced carrot and celery

1 small onion

1 small fennel bulb, stalks removed and rest diced

1 garlic clove

1 bay leaf, thyme sprig, 1/2 t dried oregano, pinch of fennel seeds

sea salt and pepper

The Chestnuts

One 10 oz can chestnuts, drained and coarsely chopped or 1 lb fresh chestnuts

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 t oregano

1/2 t fennel seeds crushed

1/4 t dried thyme

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1/2 cup dry white wine

6 long slices French or Italian country bread, toasted and brushed with olive oil

Minced celery for garnish

Warm olive oil in a pot..add carrot, celery, onion, fennel, garlic, aromatics, celery leaves. Add t of salt and cook over med heat 5 min. Drain lentils, if need be, add them to pot along w 1 quart water (6 cups if they weren't soaked) Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until the lentils are tender, 20-40 minutes depending on whether they were soaked. Remove bay leaf, taste and season.

Prepare chestnuts while lentils are cooking.  If fresh, cut an x with a paring knife into the flat sides of the chestnuts.  Put them in a saucepan, cover with water and boil gently until the peels can be pulled off about 20   mins. remove one at a time and peel while hot so that you can remove the brown skin that clings to the seed.  Whether fresh or canned, dice them into small chunks.

Warm the 2 tablespoonsof oil in the skillet.  Add chopped chestnuts, oregano, fennel seeds and thyme.  Cook over med heat for several minutes then work in the tomato paste and add the wine. Reduce to low heat and cook stirring only a few times (5 minutes).  Add this to the soup when the lentils are done.  Taste for salt and season.  Serve with long croutons broken into the soup, a drizzle of olive ol and minced celery leaves or parsley.

This one takes time, but is worth it.  Enjoy!

For an easy and tasty dessert, try dairy free coconut chocolate ice cream from the Davis Food Coop and sprinkle on some fresh pomegranate seeds.

Here are a couple interesting facts.

1. Sunflowers don't follow the sun, but face east.....who knew???

2. Cattle align themselves into a north south direction.

3. Birds and salmon use the earth's magnetic field during migration

Have a great night and let me know if you've noticed any interesting roadside plants lately.

Addiction

Well I've got to admit it.  I am addicted to many things.  Some are fleeting and others, well let's just say they follow me everywhere for better or for worse.  For the last few weeks, I  have been addicted to ebay in a big way and I have to say that I have gotten pretty savvy about finding great deals.  I've even fantasized about starting some kind of business where I am a personal shopper for women looking for the major steal.  I had an past client (another career ago) who used to go to Sparks NV to purchase huge quantities of ladies XL under garments  to sell on ebay.  That is not what I am thinking of.  Let's just say Eileen Fisher and you've got the idea.  I think I like searching ebay, because it is a little bit like a treasure hunt or gambling or sifting through mounds of junk at the Bargain Barn in Santa Cruz looking for that 1890's quilt someone tossed away.  When you find the gem it's BINGO!!  I don't think that my addiction to ebay is permanent like my addiction to dark chocolate though, because it is like listening to a favorite song for days on end.  You get the rush and then it diminishes over time and you have to put it down for a couple of weeks until your brain receptors renew themselves.  I have not been on ebay at all today and don't feel any withdrawl symptoms and that is a good sign.  I do, however, have a new favorite food and it is looking a bit like an addiction.  There is a small nut farm that sells at our local Davis Farmer's Market and they have the BEST almonds.  They have many flavors to attract attention, but my favorite are the roasted almonds in olive oil and salt.  The first time I tried them at the Market I didn't think much of them.  I recall telling my sweet husband that I liked the plain, unsalted almonds at our local food Coop for $10.00 per pound better, but we bought a bag anyway because they were different (and $6.00 per pound..gotta love the price) and we thought what the heck.  I brought them home and put them in a jar I keep next to the olive oil on my kitchen counter. At first I was only having a  nibble once in a while  and then I found myself sneaking into the kitchen often for some more.  Now I find myself thinking about the almonds and the olive oil flavor mixed with the salt...kind of like eating a potato chip.  You can 't just eat one and once you put the bag away you are likely to go back shortly and grab some more.  For some, it's the crunch or the bitter or the sweet or the crackle, but for me it is that olive oil salt taste and the way they all blend to make almond butter in my mouth.  Anyway, I am a bonifide olive oil and salt from the Farmer's Market almond addict.   I find myself looking forward to Wednesdays now because I know the friendly guy selling the almonds will be at the Market.  I am going through a pound a week.  I am not going to do the math, but I know that is a lot of almonds.  I guess there could be worse addictions, like let's say...to candy canes or Fruit Loops so I think I can live with this one. If  you have any secret addictions you would like to share, please leave me a comment.

Thanks for reading and have a wonderful evening! 

This morning in the Great Central Valley and more

I had the opportunity to be on the road this morning.  My husband had an early flight and I had to take him to the airport.  When he is in the car with me, we talk and joke and look at birds landing on telephone polls.  Really, he is the one swerving the car and driving somewhat recklessly so he can not only see the bird, but name it.  The drive is short and sometimes sad because I am dropping him off and won't see him for a few days.  After the big hug at the airport, I climb back into the car and put on some cool music or NPR and drive home.  The difference on the way home compared to the way there is that I really observe my surroundings.  The highway between Davis and the airport is open and I can see our little section of the central valley. The air was particularly thick today..so heavy in fact that you could cut it and serve it up with some crackers.  I remember when I worked for the Department of Fish and Game and I was imported from the eastern sierra  to help with  a fish kill in Fresno.  I had really never spent any time in the valley and found it quite oppressive with all the flatness and thick air (and weird smells).  I swore to myself that I would never live in a place like that and yet here I am.  Funny how things work out.

Today on my drive home, I not only saw the thick air,  but also beautiful open fields in varying shades of fall color with grasses waving rhythmically. I  saw the coastal range in the background adding some depth to the picture. I have always been waiting to leave this area because it never has felt like my space.  This morning I felt peaceful and at home.  I am slowly learning to  be less resistant to the things I thought I never would like and view the picture just as it is.  Sometimes it is ugly, but sometimes it is quite beautiful and sometimes it is beautiful in all of it's ugliness.

Lastly, I have to mention a mostly local, healthy food option for breakfast.  I just made my son a yogurt bowl filled with fresh pomegranate seeds, satsuma oranges and frozen blueberries.  I would have added persimmons (skip the blueberries), some flax seeds and some almonds.  I had a piece of millet bread with almond butter, ground flax seeds with fresh pomegranate seeds on it and it was delicious and zippy to look at.

Have a great day!

My First Post

 This is the first post to this new blog and since I am only now learning how to manipulate all the fun things I can do with this, I will be posting photos, links etc. soon.  I am sitting here with my cat, Jupiter, thinking of fall things.  Today felt to me like a true fall day and it is supposed to rain tomorrow.  I have been raking leaves daily now and harvesting the last of the pomegranates.  I am still amazed that I grow so  many fruits in my tiny backyard, as I grew up on the east coast and a pomegranate was like a rare jewel.  We would get one pomegranate in the fall and we would all share it...and we were a hip family.  Most kids at that time had never seen or heard of a pomegranate.

  I am saving some of the fresh seeds to add to a fall, Thanksgiving salad.  I like to make seasonal salads and this one will have pomegranate seeds, persimmons, local almonds, end of the season peppers, local carrots, local lettuce, watermelon radish (which if you haven't tried, you should), northwest harvested pears.  I am kind of a rabid local, organic eater, not only because it is better for our local economy, better for the soil, better for my health, but also because I simply like to work with fresh and colorful produce.  The watermelon radish for instance is an amazing gem of a vegetable.  It is not as powerful as the typical radish, which my family appreciates and it is like a geode when you cut into it.  The first time I saw one I didn't see why it was favored by radish lovers, because it is all white.  When I cut it open I literally gasped.  It has the most gorgeous purple center that radiates out into the whiteness like a rainbow.

 I love eating things that I know where they've come from..they just taste better to me.  Although this blog will be a stream of consciousness from my overactive mind, I hope to include a recipe at least weekly that will include at least some local ingredients (west coast that is). I tend to invent recipes, so if you are the type of person who needs exact amounts then you might be frustrated by this.  My great aunts were from the "little of this,  little of that" school and that is what I was taught.  My mom cooked the same way except for her baked goods, which were amazingly lucious I might add even though she used recipes for these.  The night before last I made a fabulous red lentil stew.  It was not only delicious, but fun to make and reminded me of an artist's palette it was so beautiful.  No..I am not nuts.  I love this dish..I could feel it nourishing my body and soul AS I ate it.  So here it is:

                   At least a couple of cups of red lentils

                   about 2 Tokyo turnips (local white turnips very mild in flavor and tender)

                   one small leek

                   one red onion

                   2 or more local, luscious carrots(look for tender ones)                                 

                   about half bunch fresh cilantro

                    5 cloves garlic chopped

                    bunch of fresh kale (local if you have it..I love dino kale)                    

                    can of Muir Glen (don't love them..not politically correct, but organic) fire roasted
                    diced tomatoes                       

                   sea salt

                   lots of cumin, tumeric, red chili pepper

                   a little cinnamon

                   olive oil

                   water or veggie broth or chicken broth

                   Potatoes (I don't add them, but I know they would taste good in this)
Next:

Chop garlic, slice turnips, carrots, onion, leek, cilantro and add to hot olive oil in a pot. Add tumeric, cumin and salt to veggies...cook until onions are translucent.

Add red lentils and enough water so that lentils and veggies are covered with around 5 inches of water more or less.  You want the lentils to be able to expand and not get too thick.  You may have to add water for a consistency you like.

 Add tomatoes, more of the spices including red chili pepper to taste.  Cook on lowish/med heat until thick.  Add more spice to taste.  I like mine strong and more like a soup.

Before eating, chop up the kale, add to pot and steam.  Mix into soup.

You can serve this with chopped almonds, avocado and rice or quinoa or just the way it is.

This dish tastes best prepared at least a few hours in advance so the flavors can mix.  It can be reheated for leftovers and seems to get better and better.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I do.

That is it for my first post.  I smell a fire in our fire pit outside and see my lovely husband adding wood.  Time for dinner!  Have a great night, friends.