Light on the dressing

I just received my fruits and veggies from the farm share...Fridays are always great days.  What I love about summer produce is that most of it is best when raw and fresh.  

I just cut 2 cucumbers, a peach, and a tomato up.  Combined them in a bowl with a handful of micro greens, a splash of olive oil and balsamic, a smidgen of salt and pepper.  Voila - have myself a nice fresh salad for lunch. Thank you earth :) 

How's your summer eating?

pickles

I seem to always try to make fridge pickles. My problem, a) I never have "enough" cucumbers or whatever it is I am pickling, b) I don't really measure my brine ingredients c) or my spices, d) I rush it and e) I don't follow directions well.

So, these are sort of from Mark Bittman's website.  I'd say, wait until I see if winging it is sufficient enough OR if you want to jump on this train right now, follow the directions.  His directions not mine.

I wonder if this realization about how I make pickles could correlate to how I live my life...both the positive and the negatives of it all.  Hmmm. Maybe there's room for some soul searching here.

This is what they look like, at this point (the beginning):

What I did was: took 1 Persian cucumber, 2 large radishes, 2 summer squashes and probably 6-8 cloves of garlic.  Then I cut them all up and shoved them in the jar, like the other recipe says, I sprinkled spices as I went.  I used: dry dill, coriander, black peppercorn, yellow mustard seeds, fennel, bay leaves and a thing my friend got me from St. Martin's called magic spice. Oh, and salt.   I also boiled 1/4 cup kosher salt with 3 cups of water and 1 1/2 cups of white vinegar.  Once it was boiled, I poured as much as I could over the veggies, closed the top, shook it all around and added more.  I did this a few times until I lost what felt like too many of my spice balls....you know what I mean.  And now, they come to room temp and I leave them in the fridge for 2+ days.

I'll let you know how they turn out!

Ever make quick fridge pickles? Got a good recipe? What have you been cooking now that summer is here?

what do you get

When you put a rutabaga, a fennel bulb and a celeriac root together?  SOUP! Simple, simple soup.  I'm home alone, it's later than making dinner time, I'm hungry. I have the last of my root veggies from the CSA so, I made soup.  It was a little nippy today, why not?

This is similar to that soup I made at home awhile ago.  I think you could probably throw anything in a pot cook it up and eat it. Sometimes it tastes good, sometimes its terrible...this soup is AWESOME. As awesome, if not more awesome was my garnish.  I made a sorta tzatziki, this I could eat by itself every morning, it's fresh and simple. Yum!

Ruta-celer-nnel Root Soup w. Simple Tzatsiki

Makes 2 bowls of soup

• 1 medium celeriac root, roots & dirt removed, roughly chopped
• 1 small/medium rutabaga, rough chop, sans skin
• 1 small fennel bulb, rough chop
• 2 garlic cloves, whole & smashed
• red pepper flakes
• olive oil
• salt & paper to taste

First, heat a saucepan on medium heat, add olive oil and garlic, let this crackle a bit, shake in enough red pepper to give it a kick.  You know your palate I don't, so, if I told you how much, it might be too much.  Then add the fennel, rutabaga and celeriac root and saute for maybe 10 minutes.  Then add water (or broth, if you want) to cover the veggies.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes or so.  Just keep checking to see when the bigger pieces of veggie are soft.

While the soup is simmering, in one bowl put 1/2 cup of plain greek yogurt, a small Persian cucumber with the skin cut off and diced teeny tiny.  Add the zest of a quarter of a small lemon, then the juice from that quarter and stir. That's it!

Once the soup is done, pour into a big enough bowl that you can put your emulsion blender into and blend until smooth.  Put in your favorite bowl add the simple tsatzki and eat up. So good!!

Unfortunately, I ate two of these after!

sweet and simple

Why haven't I ever made candied orange peels before? So simple and so sweet.  I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but we're part of a CSA here in California (which is still weird to say) and it's one of the best decisions we could have made. Oh the bounty each week! As it is winter, we've had a lot of root veggies, as expected. What I wasn't prepared for was all of the citrus, I know it's the season but on the East coast everything is shipped in so, if you're buying locally you don't have total access to it. 

For the past few weeks, we've been getting pound of navel oranges and like I pointed out, we have an orange tree in our backyard and man are those puppies good. Long story short, I candied some orange peels and here's how.

I took two medium to large oranges and peeled them, I washed the oranges before I did any of this, duh. Take a small paring knife and get rid of some of pith, that white stuff on the inside of the peel. Then into a pot of cold water that just covers the peels. Bring to a boil for about 15 minutes, then drain and rinse and do this again, they need a bath BIG time. Then, three cups of water, two cup granulated sugar and one cup light brown sugar bring this to a boil.  Stirring often so that the sugar dissolves. I think next time I do this, I might divide the sugars (1.5 of each), the brown sugar gives the orange a real hardy flavor. Once this comes to a boil, put peels in pot and bring back to a boil then reduce and simmer for about 45 minutes.  While this is boiling, mix together 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1/2 cup light brown sugar. Cooks note: I would use 1/4 cup of each...this time around felt like a lot of sugar.  Drain the peels, don't rinse them, then put them back in a bowl and toss with the sugar.  Go on, toss 'em with your hands...it'll make you feel very connected with your sugary sweets. Once coated, spread the peels out on a cookie rack over a baking sheet.  

The drying process will take a day or two, you can try them as they are drying to make sure they aren't dry yet. Then, pop them in a cute mason jar you have lying around the house and snack on or chop up and add to oatmeal, yogurt, whatever. You can also add them to muffins or quickbreads. Sweet - and I mean seriously.

Finished product

busy bee

So, maybe I didn't get the "adult" things done I was supposed to today, like, look for a job, research agencies...I will. I promise, however, I have to catch you up with the progress I am making in the kitchen! (yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!!!)

[Also. I just realized I never posted about my candies I made for the holidays.  What. Is. Going. On. Jordan. FOCUS. I will get to that later.]

Right. Catching you up: braised cabbage - um, incredible and topped with a poached egg, duh, loved it! Then there was the fudge I made for the Super Bowl. So easy and so good! And tonight, I roasted garlic, made a beet puree (which was okay but not great), and kale sauteed with roasted garlic, and an awesome pork chop...and, get this...I made roasted garlic butter. !!! So much. Picture and recipe of the cabbage to follow and the fudge recipe, do try it out. It's so easy and so good.

 

Braised Cabbage, adapted from Orangette 

Makes enough for dinner and a few meals after that

• 1 medium head green cabbage
• 1 large yellow onion, sliced into rough 1/3-inch slices
  1 large carrot, sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 egg, poached

Preheat the oven to 400, position a rack in the middle of the oven.

Get rid of the bruised and beat up outer layers. Rinse the cabbage under cold water quickly, dry lightly. Cut it into 8 wedges. Arrange the pieces on a baking dish. Try to get them all flat in the dish, if they overlap, that's okay but not preferred.

Add the onions and carrots to the dish, pour the water and oil over everything. Season with some salt, a bunch of pepper, and a few pinches of red pepper flakes. Cover the dish with foil pop it in the oven. Cook the veggies for 30 minutes; gently turn the cabbage wedges. Cover the dish, and return it to the oven to cook until the vegetables are very tender, about 20 more minutes.

When the cabbage is completely tender, remove the foil over the baking dish and continue cooking another 10 or so minutes.

Serve warm, topped with a poached egg and sprinkled with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

-----------------------------

The fudge guys...the fudge. Oh man, try this.

Cinnamon-Chocolate Fudge, from Giada De Laurentiis

• Butter, for greasing the pan
• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 pound (about 2 cups) bittersweet chocolate chips
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, at room temperature
• Kosher or flake salt, optional

Butter the bottom and sides of an 8 b 8-inch baking pan. Line the pan with a sheet of parchment paper, set aside.

In a medium glass or stainless steel bowl, combine the condensed milk, cinnamon, and vanilla. Stir in the chocolate chips and butter. Put the bowl on a saucepan of barely simmering water and mix until the chocolate chips have melted and the mixture is smooth, about 6 to 8 minutes (mixture will be thick). Using a spatula, scrape the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Sprinkle with salt. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours until firm.

Run a warm knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the fudge. Remove the fudge to a cutting board. Peel off the parchment paper and cut the fudge into 1-inch pieces. Store refrigerated in an airtight container or freeze.

slowly but surely.

Last night we got home from San Francisco late, we had the veggies from our farm share sitting in our fridge and we had an old roommate staying the night.  Of course I'm going to cook an awesome dinner for the three of us to relax with after the long journey. Like I have said many times prior, cooking for me is catharsis.  It's Jordan Time.  It's my space of relaxing with my brain, regardless of how difficult it can be.  

I had a wonderful time in San Francisco...on Monday we went into Muir Woods and hiked for 5 hours...it was incredible. The forest was amazing and peaceful and playful and quieting.  When we reached the top of the Ben Johnson trail and found ourselves in a huge clearing looking out over the mountains that finally fell into the sea there was a moment of complete and totally clarity.  I was all of a sudden ready to not take myself so seriously, nor anyone else for that matter.  I realized that all too often I hide behind my sarcasm and humor and don't let the moments of genuine interaction come out.  Perhaps I am doing this because I am in a new city, meeting new people, going on a new adventure, sorting out my career all over again; I don't know.  But I do know that I made a pact with myself on that mountain...don't stress, don't panic, really exist in the moments you have fully and always remember to find the positive and make the most of what I'm handed.  Here's to that new adventure.

And, here's to an awesome frittata recipe I made last night, please, take the liberty to add whatever you have in your fridge to this.  I had to share it with you, so please, share you additions with me. Enjoy!

Potato Frittata

     makes one 10-inch cast iron skillet ofdeliciousness

     adapted from Joy the Baker (seriously, if you don't read her blog, you should...she's a very cool girl.)

• 5 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 small yellow onion, sliced
• 1/2 fennel bulb, diced
• 9 small Russian banana potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/8-inch thick slices
• 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground pepper
• 7 large eggs
• 2 Tablespoons minced flat-leaf parsley
• a hearty shake of dried minced chives
• 2 Tablespoons heavy cream

Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Heat a medium saute pan over medium high heat and drizzle with 2 Tablespoons of the olive oil.  Add the onions and fennel and cook until caramelized, about 8 minutes.  Deglaze the pan with 1/4 cup of water, scraping any brown bits from the bottom with a wooden spoon.  

Cook until the water evaporates and the onions take on a uniform brown color, very quick, watch your pan.

 

Transfer the onions to the roasting pan and toss with the raw sliced potatoes.  Add 1 tablespoon of butter and the remaining 3 Tablespoons of oil.  Toss with your hands.  Season generously with salt and pepper.  Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender, stirring occasionally - be careful!  You're oven is extremely hot right now. 

Reduce the oven heat to 350 degrees F.  

Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, herbs and cream together.  Season with salt and pepper.  

Heat a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium high heat.  Melt the remaining 2 Tablespoons butter in the skillet, making sure that melted butter greases the side of the cast iron as well.  Add the cooked potatoes to the pan.  Top with the egg mixture.  Cover the skillet with lid and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove lid and bake for 10 minutes more.  

Slice and serve directly from the skillet, warm or at room temperature. Serve with an easy salad for dinner. If eating for breakfast, have some oj and maybe a slice of homemade toast.

xo

spiciness

(i'm laying in a hammock in my apartment. jealous?)

but that's not the point the point is i read ree drummond's blog today (the pioneer woman) and she was talking about what it takes to be a good blogger. she points our that you have to write and write often. you have to push through 'blogger' blocks and just produce and, don't talk about the same thing twice! most importantly, make sure you have a perspective, a point of view, a personality...what's you voice? i think i do this. i hope i do. i hope it's not too boring on here. 

okay. real point! last night i made my own homemade hot sauce. there was a great post on food 52 about homemade sriracha and there were so many great comments about how easy it was and how good it was. and...lucky me, i just happened to have almost a 1/2 pound of red and green jalapenos. so. task accepted. and its quite simple and pretty good. i didn't follow the recipe fully, which might be better than mine, so if you want it it's here.

jordan's okay hot sauce
adapted from the year of eating consciously
ingredients
almost a 1/2 pound of jalapenos
1/2 cup cooking white wine
1/2 cup apple cider
4 cloves of garlic (i didn't have garlic and sort of wish i had)
teaspoon salt
pepper
2 tablespoons sugar (the recipe calls for palm sugar, clearly, i didn't have it...)
a few pinches of brown sugar


first, you roughly chop the jalapenos. (don't touch your face, eyes, mouth, better yet, wear gloves?) put them in a jar. roughly chop the garlic, add to said jar. pour the liquid over the peppers and garlic. add the salt. cover the jar, this should sit overnight. sort of like a brine. 

after those 24 hours have passed the fun begins. place the mixture and the sugar into a medium saucepan, bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce and let simmer for 5 minutes. this is the part in the process that stinks, literally. it smells bad and it burns your eyes and throat so i suggest keeping the top on the pot. once 5 minutes has passed, let the mixture come to room temperature.


once cooled put the mixture in a blender and puree for about 5 minutes or until basically all liquid. then push the mixture through a strainer to get as much of the liquid out as possible into a jar that you can seal tightly and refrigerate.

i took the leftover mush (seeds and bits of peppers) put them in a jar and added a little salt and olive oil. chili paste-ish. had it on the eggs this morning. awesome.


do you like hot sauce enough to make your own?
xo

lets get rich...

not much food lately. i've been living away from home for the last few weeks. the ol' bf was in town and is allergic to cats, so we couldn't stay in my home...but, come saturday...greenmarket, here i freaking come. 

also, just heard this on pandora. ingrid michaelson, you and i. its beautiful, see:

Don't you worry there my honey | We might not have any money | But we've got our love to pay the bills

Maybe I think you're cute and funny | Maybe I wanna do what bunnies do with you if you know what I mean

Oh lets get rich and buy our parents homes in the south of France | Lets get rich and give everybody nice sweaters and teach them how to dance | Lets get rich and build a house on a mountain making everybody look like ants | From way up there, you and I, you and I

Well you might be a bit confused | And you might be a little bit bruised | But baby how we spoon like no one else | So I will help you read those books | If you will soothe my worried looks | And we will put the lonesome on the shelf

Lets get rich and buy our parents homes in the south of France | Lets get rich and give everybody nice sweaters and teach them how to dance | Lets get rich and build a house on a mountain making everybody look like ants | From way up there, you and I, you and I

Lets get rich and buy our parents homes in the south of France | Lets get rich and give everybody nice sweaters and teach them how to dance | Lets get rich and build a house on a mountain making everybody look like ants | From way up there, you and I, you and I

sweet treats

whats with the time away?! i have been so busy. and when i'm not sleeping, i'm rehearsing and when i'm not doing that i'm either working or going back to my script to work some more on the text. needless to say, i've opted-out of late night meals (i ain't no Julie Powel cooking my way through Mastering The Art of French Cooking with a death wish and a desire to gain 20 lbs), so i'm really only snacking on raw veggies and a piece of bread w. peanut butter here and there...there's been no time to cook. sadly. i wish i could...give me a week or so and i'll be back on point. i'm excited to play around with summer dishes. i read this article in the NYTimes a few weeks ago about making meals that keep you out of a hot kitchen (ie. doing a lot of prep - a lot is an exaggeration - before you start cooking) which is totally calling my name. so much so, that i actually bought a tin of sardines the other day whilst at the grocery store! i cannot wait.

i've not talked about it before - but i love honey. i like to use it as a sweetener in my coffee and i wish i made myself bake with it more. i could eat raw honey, the kind that is thick and pasty, by the spoonful.  one of my friends from college owns a farm with her husband and sister-in-law in williamsport, ohio called Honeyrun Farm. 
its pretty amazing. its awesome, rather. its so inspiring to know that jayne, becky and issac are doing something they love. they are working the land and providing wholesome food for themselves and those in their area. so very inspiring. i mean...it really is awesome. i go to the farmers market maybe every-other-weekend and whenever i go, i just want to be behind one of those farm stands and talking to everyone about the produce, herbs, flowers, bread, whatever was made by this farm.

well, jayne was nice enough to send me some of their black locust honey...its awesome. its really light and smooth and it so clear. i think its clearer than most honey i've had in the past. its this light golden color, it reminds me of a toe-headed little child on a warm august day. the flavor is really clean and simple and floral. they grow their own flowers and i can only imagine they bees adore them all! their bees probably say things like, "the barnes' flowers are to die for, Herb, you really should try them the next time you go on a pollen run."

what i'm really trying to say is a) go to Honeyrun, and if you're in the area, literally...go there. b) support your local farmers. they're the ones who know how to do things right. we're a civilization that is living off the land in all the wrong ways. we're wasting and consuming far too much and not understanding how to properly use the little land that we have left. the farmers - they know what and how to do. we should learn from them. we should all figure out how to be more self-sustaining. for those of you in the NYC area, here is a map and schedule of all the green markets throughout the city. do this. i promise you'll love it.


i almost forgot! i made crockpot veggie chili...i haven't tasted it yet, but i have it for lunch today, so i will give a full review. here's what i did though - so freakin' easy.

1 large (i think ours was too large) white onion
1/2 green bell pepper
6 garlic scapes


chop these puppies up, toss them in the crock pot (i used - i think - a 4Q crockpot, i wanted more room, so perhaps don't think as large as i did). next, take a can of pinto beans, a can of kidney beans, a can of black beans (we used this black bean/bacon/soup stuff), a can of fava beans, a can of corn, a whole can of tomato paste, a 28oz can of chopped tomatoes (we used whole peeled roma and chopped them ourselves, you can also use crushed...it all depends on what you like, i like a lot of texture in my chili hence the whole peeled), 2 tablespoons of cayenne pepper, a little salt, a little pepper and a cup of water. mix it all together, put the lid on and let it sit (med/high) for 8ish hours.  ours stewed for probably 12 hours. it was so easy. it made A LOT of chili. i will let you know what i thought after lunch.

xo

home-made pasta, garlic scapes and the green market

today was a good day. (i have so much to do, but first i have to blog)

woke up later than i expected - no big deal. got ready and headed to manhattan for brunch with my roommate at friend of a farmer. brunch was fabulous. i had a spanish omelet and lexi had the boomer special. this special, ya'll, (scrambled eggs, your choice of french toast, buttermilk or pumpkin pancakes & your choice of bacon, ham or sausage) we thought that this was going to include pancakes AND french toast. needless to say we were sad, i think we both really wanted french toast pretty bad. next time.....

then, we went to the green market. it was wonderful. there were so many people at the market, so many stands and so much fresh food. if i could i would show you the most beautiful peonies we got. they were $10 for a bunch, and $18 for two. the florist/farmer who helped lexi and i gave us three for the price of two because he felt bad that they weren't as nice as they should be. they're white and light pink and a deep magenta and there's a few that are speckled pink, white and darker pink. most of them are still tight and in their balls that peonies create before they fully bloom. there's a handful of mini-bulbs that will hopefully bloom over the next few days. they are so fragrant. i think peonies would be great in a brides bouquet but they have to be perfect for that and it has to be at the peak of their season. they are spring. the smell. the color. the texture even. tip for you if ever you buy peonies.....they love really cold water and a fresh cut stems. 

we bought: peonies, garlic scapes (we bought 5 pounds, so that lexi could take some to her chef at work. FIVE POUNDS of garlic scapes. CRAZY), spinach, purslane, thyme, huge radishes, beautifully orange carrots, some sheeps milk cheese, romaine, raspberries, blueberries and fresh strawberries. i LOVE the green market. i said, more than once this afternoon, i would love to work at a stand there. it was so great. we also began talking to strangers. or rather, shouting out whether we liked a dress or a shirt or a barrette in a girls hair. i dont think anyone actually paid attention to us nor did they want to. it was merely for our giggling pleasure.

lexi went to work with her four pounds of garlic scapes, half of the purslane and the thyme for chef and her restaurant. and i did laundry. and i got hungry. and i started thinking about what i could make from our freshly purchased fresh produce. i have been thinking about home-made pasta for over a week. so...i made pasta. i made pasta tonight. my other roommate, chris, was home so i embarked on a pasta making adventure. here's how it went...3 cups of flour, and a few twists of salt (approx. 1/4 of a teaspoon) put it on the counter or in a bowl. i opted in the beginning for a bowl. in another bowl i mixed 3 eggs with a tablespoon of cream and a teaspoon of olive oil. i made a hole in the middle of the flour, a well really, and dumped the egg mixture into this well. i began mixing, with my hands. (i'm starting to use my hands in my mixing A LOT these days...i like it. its a very intimate experience with my food. with the process of cooking. and i feel like it puts me into my making...) it was clumpy. i was concerned. i poured some water in, it started forming a ball. i put some flour on the counter top and began kneading. i kneaded probably less than what i should have, all the recipes called for 3-4 minutes, i probably kneaded for 2.5/3 minutes. then i put it in a bag (supposed to wrap it tight in plastic wrap) and put it in the fridge for a little under 30 minutes. someone on allrecipes.com said that the key was to making good home-made pasta was to let it rest. LET IT REST. so i let it rest. while it rested...i cut some scapes and sun-dried tomatoes and sauteed them. i also cut up a radish, 2 carrots and ripped some romaine. also, while the pasta rested, mixed 3 eggs, Parmesan cheese, pepper and red pepper flakes. i let that rest. 

this is where the fun part came in. i kneaded the pasta once or twice. i put the pasta ball on the counter. and began rolling. i rolled and rolled. i couldn't make a dent in the rolling out of the pasta. i couldnt make it get thinner. so, chris took over. he rolled. and rolled. and rolled. the pasta ball got thinner and thinner. finally, we had a big, thin, flat chunk of pasta. and i began cutting. i had no idea what i was doing. i cut this way and that way. i cut thicker pieces and thinner pieces. some pieces i cut in half and others i left long. it took ages. but it was great. then i threw all of it into a pot of salted boiling water. i let it sit. i let the pasta sit in the water for, maybe, 6/7 minutes...this may have been too long, but it was still good. 

i drained the pasta, put it back in the pot, mixed in the scapes and the sun dried tomatoes, then i poured the egg mixture over this hot, home-made pasta mix and stirred. i stirred and stirred and stirred.

it was great. salad and home-made pasta with a carbonara-type sauce with fresh garlic scapes and sun dried tomatoes. both chris and i were very pleased with dinner. i was very pleased with dinner. i'm glad i tried to make pasta. i think i will do it more and more. i think, and i could be wrong but i think, you're supposed to have 1 cup of flour to 1 egg per person when eating/making. i will knead more. i will do some research and i will figure out how to make pasta amazing. 

i will. guys. i will make awesome home-made pasta some day. and, if you come over for dinner...maybe i will have just gotten home from the green market with unbelievably fresh produce (seasonal) and make you home-made pasta. and a salad, mixed with my hands and maybe some berries for dessert. 

night. 

xo 

a long way to a point

i'm amazed by so much in life. so much. the little things make me happy, they confuse me, they excite me, they challenge me, they inspire me, they amaze me. 

my junior year in college i took a course called "Chinese and Japanese Religious Traditions" with Dr. Oldstone-Moore, it was eye opening. i had already started down the path of simplicity, or at least what i thought at the time was simplicity. i had also always been really in-tune w. nature, i was into healthy food and my sister had introduced me to yoga principals and practices. but this class. this class blew my mind. i wasn't expecting much as this was my "required" R class for graduation and sure, i wasn't the only one thinking this class would be an easily filled requirement. much to my dismay, i fell in love. i have to be honest, i don't remember much of what we studied in this class, i just know it was taking me down a path.

then my senior year, when i had filled all of my requirements and didnt want to be a pud and not take ANY classes, i decided to sign up for another Oldstone-Moore class...this time around i tried "Buddhist Thoughts and Scriptures" the Wittenberg website states that this course is:

       Seminar studying the teachings and practices of schools of the Buddhist tradition through pivotal scriptures.  Sutras and other texts from Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism will be considered in their historical and cultural contexts, and within the framework of central themes of Buddhism.  Requirements include class discussion and presentations, two exams, one short paper, and a term paper.  Writing intensive. Every third year.

well, sure, thats what we did. i remember devouring the texts, relishing in writing my papers, but the most fulfilling part of this class was the monastic project. 

whats that you ask? it was when we became practicing monks for three weeks. we altered our diets (no meat, no coffee, no processed sugars, no white flour/rice...ALL VEGGIES/ALL ORGANIC), we had group meditation, individual meditation and a yoga practice, we journal-ed everyday, we didn't speak unless spoken to all three Monday's and when we ate we practiced eating meditation. where we weren't supposed to do anything but talk during our meals. no books, no tv, no music, just chewing and talking if anyone else was there. we also had to put our forks down after every bite and really chew and engage with our food. (i lived with three of my best friends my senior year and we had weekly family meals.  

[this picture is from sarah's wedding] we'd all cook together and eat together, it was one of the best things about my senior year and i was lucky that they all were patient with me during this monastic project and even, when we all ate, played along.) this project was awesome. it was really rooting and humbling. its established some of the ideas with which i live my life. its one of those experiences that i think back on all the time.  its the little things from the project that i hold onto and try to practice now and then.

it even helped me, subconsciously (i think), come up with my tattoo.

its in Sanskrit and says 'Chinne mūle maivashakhā na patram' (no branches, no leaves in the absence of the roots.) this is a vedic medical expression that i discovered. and the tree is a bodhi tree, the tree that Buddha was enlightened under. the idea of a tree came to me in a rough/transitional patch. you have to be grounded, rooted to solid ground personally and professionally. you have to have a strong body physically and mentally. finally there is a constant reach towards something, be it a goal, a dream, whatever. and there's also the idea of a cycle, with the leaves, it begins all over again...

where was i going...amazement. i think this foundation (i'd call it that, i guess) in buddhism and breaking down to the simplest form of anything is what led me to this whole cooking endeavor. this wanting to touch what i eat and know where it came from. this sharing of a process and eating at a community table with everyone i know... i wanted to share with you, if you haven't found it already, something that i adore. i can easily say - i effing LOVE this site: food. curated. (www.foodcurated.com) liza basically interviews local foodies, chefs, farmers, fisherman, bee keepers, etc. its pretty amazing. i want you to know about it because this is the sort of thing thats fueling me and inspiring me right now. i love love love it. and there are some really good and innovative ideas. theres all this talk about rooftop farms and backyard farms, its awesome. i think i sense something i may be looking into doing in LA...here we go new chapter.

what gets you going right now? is there someone, some place you go on a regular basis to infuse your life?

xo

 

i couldnt resist

i know. i was just going to keep going on about california...but i made dinner tonight. i assure you, it was not fancy style. it was in fact, poached egg style. :) i went on about this yesterday so, i thought i would finally share my obsession. i am obsessed. seriously. its just a good accompaniment to any meal, and good for you! golly gee wilikers. the best part about dinner was that most of it was bought at the green market. eggs, check. beets, check. greens, check.

it was tasty and easy. made a simple vinaigrette: 1/3 C olive oil, 2+ (this depends on what you like) tablespoons balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and a few shakes of mustard powder, and shook it all up. it was really good. threw some pine nuts onto a bed of greens addedd dressing, mixed it all together. that was the bottom layer. i steamed some beets, tossed with salt and pepper. my next layer. and, of course, poached two eggs. 

delish. xo

green market & kale

i decided after watching FOOD INC. that i was going to try to be a locavore (eat within a 100 mile radius of where you live)...its so hard to do. i imagine its also hard to start in the dead of winter. it also feels limiting and since i love food so much, i didnt want to limit what i could eat, i'm just going to know what i am eating, as much as i can. in order to do this, i have decided to control my produce, meat and dairy as much as possible. i started this week by going to the green market during lunch on monday. what did i see? kale, leeks, carrots, parsnips, and potatoes....LOTS of potatoes. an apple stand here and there and thats about it. not TERRIBLE but also, if i dont want to just consume starch, it seemed daunting. i bought some kale, some apples, onions and eggs. its a start. 

i wasnt going to eat pasta or bread this week (i'm going on vacation and want to look my best). ... well, i'm in the dumps and when you're in the dumps you want comfort food. and pasta, well, its a comfort food for me however it is served. and, with all this kale, i figured i'd put it in pasta! lets talk about this kale. it was beautiful. and i'll show it to you...

i've never had kale that was this crinkly. or schrounched. or gnarled. i'm not sure the right word to describe it. but it was that. whatever that is. and it was tough to cut and the leaves were small, but, it was so so good. now, for the pasta. talk about delish. there's something about a lemon sauce with pasta, its fresh. and it always feels right, especially on a day like today in new york. the weather was wonderful and its as if spring is upon us. i'm sure we'll be hit with something nasty between now and then, but for today, it was nice. 

so please, enjoy!

Kale w. Spaghetti, Lemon and Cheese.

adapted from poppytalk

serves ~3

Ingredients

• 250 g of spaghetti (or whatever you have)
• 1 Tblsp olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced (i say use however much garlic you can handle)
• 2 shallots, minced (i had a med. yellow onion, so i used half of that)
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (again, however much you want)
• 1 bunch of Kale (or swiss chard) tough stems removed and leave chopped into ribbons
• juice and zest from one lemon
• 1/4 C Parmesan cheese

Preparation

1. boil salted water and cook the pasta as per directions. (dont watch the water boil, that wont help it...) in a large skillet, heat the olive oil over med-high heat and saute garlic, onion and red pepper flakes until fragrant. add in the kale and cook until wilted, stirring a bit, not constantly. if it gets dry, add some of the pasta water to keep it a little wet...sweaty, if you will.

2. drain pasta reserving some of the cooking water. about 1/2 cup of it. this will help create the sauce. add the kale to the pasta pot, dump the pasta back in and add some of the liquid.  toss with tongs and add in the zest and lemon juice. when the pasta is well coated, sprinkle with the cheese and give it one (or 8) more tosses. i dont think i added enough cheese, so i sprinkle some onto my pasta when it was plated. 

yum! 

xo

FOOD INC.

the title should be enough said. but its not. clearly. i cannot right now, b.c i am still reeling from it, describe to you how i feel about this movie. other that the fact that it has affected (to touch or to move) me. quite deeply. i want to do something. 

what i was just thinking about is that its about - not only about - having a relationship with your food. fine, i'll say it, obsess about food. i love it. i love making it, i love eating it, i love looking at it, i love touching it. i love the things i put in my body. the things that give me fuel and energy. but, even i don't have a real relationship with my food. yes, i buy local and organic as much as i can but i dont always read labels and when i'm in a rush, strapped on cash...i dont even thing about it. i want to think about it. i want to be educated. i want to make a small change, even if its just my single self doing something...that'll make a difference some place. and on a friends urging. ... i am going to go out and read some of pollan's books. and, if need be, i will get back on this soapbox. 

xo

oh man...

 This sounds fabulous. Super fabulous. I would love to be able to afford and have the time to do something like this w. my boyfriend and/or a few friends. It seems like it would be such an amazing experience. As the author says, it does sort of feel like a cop-out...but what if it inspires you to grow veggies out on your fire escape? Or want to move to Vermont and start working on a farm.

Sheesh. I love it.