In solidarity, five women and one man, we froze our truffles.
In the company of intelligent friends with eclectic senses of humor, a bit tiredness, and a few of us filled with chocolatey sugarness and accompanied by a loud sound system of 70’s 80’s and today muzak words are misheard and other snippets become knee slappers. Should becomes shizzel or sh*t and an excerpt from recalling deep frying truffle-filled beignets becomes one line for the evening.
I froze my truffles.
Thanks (to my fellow four women and one man and ethel), you know who you are.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Monday, December 31, 2007
*sigh*
Another year is closing, more vistas to come.
Really all we need to know is if you are 100% in yourself or being your true self, you cannot go wrong. But when you break that statement down, others’ reactions and complexes and your own stuff influence you every day, it’s not that easy.
This last month I released a few obligations which didn’t resonate with me, but those obligations had a purpose at the time. I feel free-r and more focused and excited. I didn’t realize how weighted down I was nor did I realize at what point they began to have that effect.
I anticipate much happening in the next 4 months. I’ve had some epiphanies, in my sleep, about shifting current things. (Sleep is my work time too.) I have several continuing education courses coming up, all of which are integral to niche-ing my practice. (This is a necessity where we are three independent acupuncturists in one location!) All these things completely resonate with the true me.
I am getting reacquainted with aspects of me that I left by the wayside while focusing on other things that seemed more crucial. Other than attaining basic needs, I have no idea what could have been more crucial than being myself.
Here’s some a little diddy that I wrote 10 years ago (also resoluted I’d make it a book), at a point I was pretty much truly me. It’s a little silly but it’s still me. Here goes:
I wish Bliss
I wish I moved to the beat
of a drum
and
Made my own music
Made people dance through the fields of life
with me
I wish I swayed with the wind
and
Sunbeams shown through the palms
of my hands
Dive into life
and
Breathe the water
Taste the air
and
Suck the sky
Color the black holes
and
Brighten the dark side
Find the happiness
and
Bask in the lightness of me
Touch the earth sky water everyone and me
at once
and
Laugh all the while
Run barefoot through this life to the next
and
Run so fast I live both lives at once
Run my toes through my hair
My body through the grass
Stretch in the knowledge of
love
life
happiness
and
bliss
copyright 1998 lisoleil
My wish for you is be truly you and celebrate that this New Year’s eve!
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Authentic Holiday Gatherings
Not since the mid-90s have I spent Christmas with friends. Not to dismiss quality time with family over the other years, but my favorite holiday memories have been with my friends. Potluck dinners, everyone happy and wanting to be together, curling up with hot drinks and sharing ideas. This year we were a small group sharing an Indian meal of sag paneer and chana masala (made lovingly by one zen chef/occupational therapist), samosas (made by a Devon Street baker), salad (made by 4-season salad lover), and carrot halva. The meal was followed by curling in front of the tv (a treat for me) watching Bob Marley in concert and Elvis in Blue Hawaii. A very non traditional celebration but completely authentic and real.
My contribution was cherry tamarind chutney and an experiment in non-dairy, non-cane sugar carrot halva.
This is what I did:
Carrot Halva
1 lb carrots, grated
1 qt combination of soy milk and soy creamer
3 pods of cardamom (or pinch of powder)
2/3 cup agave nectar
¼ tsp rose water
1/3 cup almond flour
1/3 cup of hazelnut flour
Combine carrots, soymilk, and contents of 3 cardamom pods (or pinch of powder) and simmer a really long time. The dairy recipe even says to be patient. Soy cannot be boiled or the milk is destroyed, therefore you will have to be very patient. You must s i m m e r, watch and stir the entire time. When it reduces by half add the agave nectar and rose water. Eventually you want the mixture to hold a shape or at least, when stirred, not flow back to cover the other side of the pot. Add 1/3 cup almond flour, if it is still not thickened enough; add the 1/3 cup hazelnut flour. Spoon into serving dishes, garnish with a whole almond and hazelnut. Serve hot or cold. This made 7 - 1/3 (heaping) cup servings
This is what I learned:
Start with 1 pint of soy milk. If it seems the carrots are cooked enough with that amount, stick with the pint. If you need more add a ½ cup at a time. Why? One, I started the halva at 8 pm and finished at 4 am. I don’t want you to be surprised that you’ll be in the kitchen for 8 hours. Maybe I was TOO careful not to boil the soymilk, but I wanted to get it right. At the 7th hour, I was standing prepared to thicken with an egg yolk to custard dessert. Two, I think the carrots were a little over-simmered with 8 hours on the stove and with 1 qt of milk.
Cherry Tamarind Chutney
1 loosely packed cup of cherries
1 T tamarind paste
2 dried orange slices
minced ginger root maybe 1 – 2 tsp
1 cup water
the last of my pear vinegar maybe a ¼ cup
1T allspice
1 T coriander
juice of half a lemon
1/3 cup minced sweet onion
In a small sauce pan combine cherries, tamarind, orange slices, ginger and water. Bring to boil and simmer with allspice and coriander until cherries are break-ably soft. Add vinegar. Puree in food processor, spoon into bowl and combine with lemon and onion. To allow flavors to enhance, refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.
My contribution was cherry tamarind chutney and an experiment in non-dairy, non-cane sugar carrot halva.
This is what I did:
Carrot Halva
1 lb carrots, grated
1 qt combination of soy milk and soy creamer
3 pods of cardamom (or pinch of powder)
2/3 cup agave nectar
¼ tsp rose water
1/3 cup almond flour
1/3 cup of hazelnut flour
Combine carrots, soymilk, and contents of 3 cardamom pods (or pinch of powder) and simmer a really long time. The dairy recipe even says to be patient. Soy cannot be boiled or the milk is destroyed, therefore you will have to be very patient. You must s i m m e r, watch and stir the entire time. When it reduces by half add the agave nectar and rose water. Eventually you want the mixture to hold a shape or at least, when stirred, not flow back to cover the other side of the pot. Add 1/3 cup almond flour, if it is still not thickened enough; add the 1/3 cup hazelnut flour. Spoon into serving dishes, garnish with a whole almond and hazelnut. Serve hot or cold. This made 7 - 1/3 (heaping) cup servings
This is what I learned:
Start with 1 pint of soy milk. If it seems the carrots are cooked enough with that amount, stick with the pint. If you need more add a ½ cup at a time. Why? One, I started the halva at 8 pm and finished at 4 am. I don’t want you to be surprised that you’ll be in the kitchen for 8 hours. Maybe I was TOO careful not to boil the soymilk, but I wanted to get it right. At the 7th hour, I was standing prepared to thicken with an egg yolk to custard dessert. Two, I think the carrots were a little over-simmered with 8 hours on the stove and with 1 qt of milk.
Cherry Tamarind Chutney
1 loosely packed cup of cherries
1 T tamarind paste
2 dried orange slices
minced ginger root maybe 1 – 2 tsp
1 cup water
the last of my pear vinegar maybe a ¼ cup
1T allspice
1 T coriander
juice of half a lemon
1/3 cup minced sweet onion
In a small sauce pan combine cherries, tamarind, orange slices, ginger and water. Bring to boil and simmer with allspice and coriander until cherries are break-ably soft. Add vinegar. Puree in food processor, spoon into bowl and combine with lemon and onion. To allow flavors to enhance, refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.
Chilis Are Not Created Equal
Once the morning sun disappears, the afternoon brings an icy biting wind. We need to warm up our internal system to guard against the onslaught of the Midwest weather. It is definitely chili weather in Chicago.
Outside of my mom’s and my own chili and the Heartland Café a couple times, I really haven’t taste-tested chili. I was in a rush to get from point A to B, ran into a veggie restaurant and ordered a chili plate to go – chili, rice, and a vegan corn muffin. I cracked the to-go container open when I got to point B. Hm, when a food item contains (or IS) the word chili, I am expecting some flavor of chili – could be ancho, could be garden variety chili powder, or something with a kick. My friends, this was a pinto bean stew – thick brown non-seasoned sauce with uber-amounts of pinto beans and nothing else. It wasn’t unpalatable but it was not chili. For an obnoxious price ($13.59 to be exact) I received 1 cup of brown rice, 1-ish cups pinto bean stew, and an undercooked more-like-a-dumpling corn muffin. A couple days later, once again in a rush, I grabbed a to-go cup of chili from a restaurant in River North. Hm, again, what should be in a chili? This was a ground beef variety. It contained your garden variety chili spice, a little onion, a few black beans, meat and grease. Not a veggie to be found. A ladle of chili – roughly 6 ounces – cost 10 cents more per ounce than the chili plate. I understand they are downtown and have greater overhead, but their tuna sandwich costs less than 6 ounces of chili. I spent about $10 to make an entire vat of organic veggie chili today and even selling it at 3 times the cost; you would pay $2.50 per cup. And I am throwing in a side of sautéed swiss chard.
I like my chili semi-thick, chunky tomato, some strong chili flavor – smoky or not, onion, garlic, peppers, and a root vegetable. I can take or leave the ground meat.
So here is chili that I made recently. It isn’t exactly what I like since the little store down the street didn’t have any prepared tomato products so I grabbed some real tomatoes, blanched them, removed the skin and core. The flavor will be more chili, less tomato and not as thick.
I cooked ½ cup dry adzuki beans, then tossed them into the slow cooker with 5 small vine tomatoes, 10 diced sun-dried tomatoes, a diced green pepper, potato, carrot, a small to medium diced sweet onion, and 2 large garlic cloves; 1 dried ancho pepper, 1 T chili powder, 1 tsp chili g powder, 1 tsp marjoram, several black peppercorns, a large pinch of salt and poured 3 or more cups of water to fill the cooker. I want a long simmer to marry the flavors and make it a little stewier with the starchy potato. I let it cook overnight and throughout the morning.
It was just ok, but here is one I made a while back
1 medium onion, diced
3 carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
2 garlic cloves
1 cup adzuki beans (cooked)
2 dried ancho pepper
10 sun-dried tomato
1 16 oz can crushed tomato
1 T chili powder or more to taste
1 tsp each fennel, rosemary, and salt
10 black peppercorns
4- 6 cups combination of Vegetable and Tomato broth
(can add some tomato paste if you wish)
1 ¼ lb ground turkey
Simmer onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. Add beans, peppers, both tomatoes and broth. In separate pan brown turkey with spices and add to pot. Simmer until done. (if no turkey used then just toss spices into pot and stir).
Outside of my mom’s and my own chili and the Heartland Café a couple times, I really haven’t taste-tested chili. I was in a rush to get from point A to B, ran into a veggie restaurant and ordered a chili plate to go – chili, rice, and a vegan corn muffin. I cracked the to-go container open when I got to point B. Hm, when a food item contains (or IS) the word chili, I am expecting some flavor of chili – could be ancho, could be garden variety chili powder, or something with a kick. My friends, this was a pinto bean stew – thick brown non-seasoned sauce with uber-amounts of pinto beans and nothing else. It wasn’t unpalatable but it was not chili. For an obnoxious price ($13.59 to be exact) I received 1 cup of brown rice, 1-ish cups pinto bean stew, and an undercooked more-like-a-dumpling corn muffin. A couple days later, once again in a rush, I grabbed a to-go cup of chili from a restaurant in River North. Hm, again, what should be in a chili? This was a ground beef variety. It contained your garden variety chili spice, a little onion, a few black beans, meat and grease. Not a veggie to be found. A ladle of chili – roughly 6 ounces – cost 10 cents more per ounce than the chili plate. I understand they are downtown and have greater overhead, but their tuna sandwich costs less than 6 ounces of chili. I spent about $10 to make an entire vat of organic veggie chili today and even selling it at 3 times the cost; you would pay $2.50 per cup. And I am throwing in a side of sautéed swiss chard.
I like my chili semi-thick, chunky tomato, some strong chili flavor – smoky or not, onion, garlic, peppers, and a root vegetable. I can take or leave the ground meat.
So here is chili that I made recently. It isn’t exactly what I like since the little store down the street didn’t have any prepared tomato products so I grabbed some real tomatoes, blanched them, removed the skin and core. The flavor will be more chili, less tomato and not as thick.
I cooked ½ cup dry adzuki beans, then tossed them into the slow cooker with 5 small vine tomatoes, 10 diced sun-dried tomatoes, a diced green pepper, potato, carrot, a small to medium diced sweet onion, and 2 large garlic cloves; 1 dried ancho pepper, 1 T chili powder, 1 tsp chili g powder, 1 tsp marjoram, several black peppercorns, a large pinch of salt and poured 3 or more cups of water to fill the cooker. I want a long simmer to marry the flavors and make it a little stewier with the starchy potato. I let it cook overnight and throughout the morning.
It was just ok, but here is one I made a while back
1 medium onion, diced
3 carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
2 garlic cloves
1 cup adzuki beans (cooked)
2 dried ancho pepper
10 sun-dried tomato
1 16 oz can crushed tomato
1 T chili powder or more to taste
1 tsp each fennel, rosemary, and salt
10 black peppercorns
4- 6 cups combination of Vegetable and Tomato broth
(can add some tomato paste if you wish)
1 ¼ lb ground turkey
Simmer onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. Add beans, peppers, both tomatoes and broth. In separate pan brown turkey with spices and add to pot. Simmer until done. (if no turkey used then just toss spices into pot and stir).
Monday, December 17, 2007
Around the Corner
You won't have to look at the 2007 newsletter review from Surfacing Wellness & Health, here is the opening page thoughts.
I don’t know about you but I am clamoring to fill the last weeks of December with family, errands, social activities and work. 2007 is nearly over.
As I put my review together, I have been able to look back on what I have done, learned, moved from and to, created and avoided.
My new year’s eve activities in recent years are rather introspective and forward thinking; this compilation has allowed me to start that process 3 weeks sooner than it would normally occur.
Here is my hint for preparing for the new year...
Make your goals attainable. Make mini-goals.
If your goal is get Angelina Jolie’s body—make sure you include bullet points of start smoking, hire a daily personal trainer, eat less calories, and increase stress.
Maybe your goal is to achieve several creative activities each week, that’s admirable but why not start with one activity per month? If you are able to attempt more than one each month you won’t be disillusioned or disappointed.
I have weight loss goals but first I want to be healthy. If that means improve cardiovascular strength and respiratory endurance and remain at my current weight from here on out, I can accept that. I can also accept that I shouldn’t grab a muffin on the way to the office, that I should drink water diligently, and eat regular meals with 60% veggies, 25% carbs and 15% protein.
I also want to get back to the creative arts I used to use, but I am being easy on myself to just dabble in one for the first few months of 2008.
Don’t be so hard on yourself or you will not attain what you (possibly unrealistically) want to accomplish. We get everywhere one step at a time; it’s easier to take a step then jump off the cliff to get to your goal.
I was just in Italy, sometimes a trip off a cliff looked very appealing. When I got to my destination by foot or bike and looked up at the cliff I previously admired, I shuddered. I was very proud of where I was and how I got there. You can do it the same way.
I don’t know about you but I am clamoring to fill the last weeks of December with family, errands, social activities and work. 2007 is nearly over.
As I put my review together, I have been able to look back on what I have done, learned, moved from and to, created and avoided.
My new year’s eve activities in recent years are rather introspective and forward thinking; this compilation has allowed me to start that process 3 weeks sooner than it would normally occur.
Here is my hint for preparing for the new year...
Make your goals attainable. Make mini-goals.
If your goal is get Angelina Jolie’s body—make sure you include bullet points of start smoking, hire a daily personal trainer, eat less calories, and increase stress.
Maybe your goal is to achieve several creative activities each week, that’s admirable but why not start with one activity per month? If you are able to attempt more than one each month you won’t be disillusioned or disappointed.
I have weight loss goals but first I want to be healthy. If that means improve cardiovascular strength and respiratory endurance and remain at my current weight from here on out, I can accept that. I can also accept that I shouldn’t grab a muffin on the way to the office, that I should drink water diligently, and eat regular meals with 60% veggies, 25% carbs and 15% protein.
I also want to get back to the creative arts I used to use, but I am being easy on myself to just dabble in one for the first few months of 2008.
Don’t be so hard on yourself or you will not attain what you (possibly unrealistically) want to accomplish. We get everywhere one step at a time; it’s easier to take a step then jump off the cliff to get to your goal.
I was just in Italy, sometimes a trip off a cliff looked very appealing. When I got to my destination by foot or bike and looked up at the cliff I previously admired, I shuddered. I was very proud of where I was and how I got there. You can do it the same way.
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