Yum, Almond Cherry Macaroons

Almond Cherry Macaroons

1 can almond paste
1/3 cup dried sweet cherries
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 normal sized egg whites
more dried cherries as garnish (optional)

Preheat oven to 325F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Add to food processor almond paste and cherries.  Process until cherries are small bits and almond paste is ground up.  Add brown sugar until all are combined.  Add egg whites.  Process until a sticky paste is formed.  Drop by tablespoonful onto parchment paper.  Garnish with one dried cherry if desired.  Bake for 20 mins on middle rack.  Move macaroons to top rack and bake 5 more mins until golden.  Should make about 18 macaroons.

Yay winter is coming!

Summer Quiche

Ingredients:

2 Yukon Gold potatoes
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
2 large leaves Swiss chard
2 small to medium heirloom tomatoes
large handful chopped green onion
1/2 lb sliced smoked turkey (optional) torn into small pieces
few pinches fresh ground pepper
1/2 red pepper chopped
1/2 red onion chopped
1/2 head cauliflower chopped
few more pinches fresh ground pepper
1/4 ish cup bleu cheese
1/4 ish cup feta
8 large eggs
1/4 ish cup milk
olive oil
butter

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Slice potatoes into 1/4 to 1/8 inch slices.  Toss with paprika, salt, chopped garlic, and tablespoon or so of olive oil.  Roast potatoes on cookie sheet for 15 mins until just soft. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Turn oven heat down to 350 F.

Grease a 7.5" by 9" deep dish pan with butter.  Line bottom of pan with a full layer of potatoes.

Saute turkey with lots of fresh ground pepper in a little bit of olive oil.

Saute red pepper, onion, cauliflower in frying pan with some salt and pepper and small amount of olive oil and small amount of butter until soft but not overdone.  Set aside to cool.

Chop kale and tomatoes and spring onion.  Leave behind tough stem sections of kale.

Layer quiche over potatoes... chopped kale, chopped tomatoes, chopped green onion, sauteed turkey, sauteed veggies, bleu cheese, feta cheese.

In a seperate bowl whisk eggs and milk.  Pour into baking dish with other ingredients.

Bake for 1 hour 15 mins until set up and golden on top!

Mmmm Delicious!!

Smoothie


1/2 apple (skin and all)
1/2 frozen peach
handful raw pecans
2 tablespoons flax seeds or 3 tablespoons flax meal
1 1/4 cup soy, almond, hemp, or whatever milk
1/2 cup water
dash cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla

Blend!!

You can always add some greens, protein powder, frozen peas, or ice.  It may require a little more liquid with  any additions.

To Bikram or not to Bikram?

Wow, I'm glad that's over.  I stepped out in the sunshine filled afternoon and let the cool breeze fill my body in a way that I'm pretty sure has never, ever felt so relieving.  Good god, it had been so hot in there.  The last time I attended a Bikram class was about 5 years ago.  This was long (about 1 whole year) before my life path really had aligned with the Practice.  I had hated it.  I swore swore swore I would not return.  The pushing and sweating and harshness did not appeal to me.  I could not relate to the alignment principles; "Lock out your knees!", "Feel the pain sensation!"... What?!  So I let it go.

I tried some Anusara style classes with the "Melt your heart!  Melt your heart more! No moooorrreeeee!"  Jesus I thought my rhomboids would go into full and unstoppable spasm at any moment...

Then, I found vinyasa flow.  I moved through the postures and though they were difficult and I was inflexible I had amazing teachers whose subtle alignment clues brought me home.  They repaired the division in my body and mind.  I became more flexible and with that, my life began to change.  I moved out of old holding patterns, both physically and mentally.  I burned away samskara, so literally that I have now found a fast-track pace toward the almighty "purpose in life".  (There is a very faint hint of sarcasm here, but only in the most joyous manner.)

Now, back to the question -- To Bikram or not to Bikram? -- I returned to Bikram after 5 years of swearing it off both to myself and those around me.  But, the questions have come up over and over lately.  What, Danielle, do you think of locking out your knees?  Why so hot in there?  What about this and that Bikram posture?  Well, hmmm.  I'm not quite sure.  I disagree with this and that and the other thing about Bikram, but do I really know??  Can I say to my fellow shishya that I really understand?  There is always understanding on a deeper level.  There is always this magic, this "a-ha" moment that arises out of almost anything.  Even if something doesn't quite resonate with you, this is no reason to cast it aside and judge, n'est-ce pas?

The first two principles which resonated with me from yoga philosophy were NON-JUDGEMENT and NON-ATTACHMENT.  So in order to rid my judgement from my opinion about Bikram philosophy, I have stepped through the doors of hell... to find the doors of perception.  I signed up today for an intro-one-month-unlimited, winner-takes-all Bikram pass.  The only way to know is to dive right in I suppose.  I will need desperately, more than ever to supplement my life with my vinyasa practice so that I may remain grounded and open to this new endeavor.  And, who knows maybe even without long flowing lines of energy and vinyasa to rinse and regroup,  I will still feel the profoundness of the world around me after a Bikram yoga class.

We'll all be shishya together!!  

dream big.

Nobody ever said the life would be easy.  My parents tried really hard to make it so.  They gave me all the right advice and a lot of the right opportunities.  But, alas, I was adamant that I would make my own mistakes and DO IT MY WAY!  They were correct of course.  It would have been much, much easier to take their advice and live more responsibly at a younger age.  Now, here I am.  

I wrote a business plan.  It was such an eye opening and enlightening experience.  I sifted through all the ideas in my mind and came up with the ones that stuck, that stood out, and that were realistic.  It all seems so clear now.  Except the part where it actually happens.  Does it actually happen?  We'll see...

"I got my feet on the ground and I don't go to sleep to dream."

Vegan Cream of Kale and Spinach Soup

Ingredients:
Raw, unadulterated almonds
Salt
Garlic
Miso (of choice)
Olive oil (optional)
Kale
Spinach
Mushrooms (optional)
Pure water

Grind one handful of almonds with 2 large pinches salt in blender until fine powder forms.
Add 1 clove of garlic and 1 tablespoon miso of choice to blender.  (Also can add 1 tablespoon olive oil.)

Steam 5 leaves of kale and 2 handfuls of spinach until wilted but not completely soggy. (5-8 mins or so.)

Add kale, spinach, and steaming water (about 2 cups) to blender.  Blend.

Optional:  Steam 4 chopped button mushrooms.  Add to blended soup.  Blend only for a moment.

Add salt and pepper to taste.  Serve warm and delicious.  A very sattvic meal (minus the garlic which is rajastic)! Also does not aggravate vata, pitta, or kapha!

An original recipe!

Enjoy!

Tradition

Let's keep the tradition of yoga alive!

Ujjayi means "victorious"!

This is one of the many wisdoms I was taught by one of my yoga teachers.  In one month of intensive training in Bali, I came to understand deeply what keeping the tradition of yoga alive means.  The yoga we practice today is kind of a new age form of yoga with roots in not only the thousands-of-years-old Vedas, but also more modern European gymnastics and wrestling.  Thousands of years ago there were maybe less than a hundred actual asana.  The focus then was more focused on cultivating the mental faculties required for meditation.  Today we have thousands and thousands of asana and modifications to accompany.  We live more in a physical culture with less emphasis on meditation.  For me like many, one component of settling the mind is this intense and cleansing physical practice.

There is, however, one aspect of today's asana practice that is steeped in ancient tradition.  This is the use of Sanskrit terms to identify certain pranayama and asana exercises.  Sanskrit is an ancient language akin to the use of Greek and Latin in Europe.  I feel that during a yoga class the use of Sanskrit has the ability to bring about deeper and more profound connection to each pose.  During vinyasa yoga sessions, Sanskrit terms almost guide me into a more meditative asana practice with their cadence and link to a deeper story behind the words.  I recently heard of ujjayi interpreted as the ocean sound.  It is true that ujjayi pranayama causes the practitioner to make a sound like an ocean wave with the breath moving across the constriction at the back of the throat, but... ujjayi interprets to "victorious" in Sanskrit.  The strength of ujjayi pranayama moving through the body supports the asana practice allowing the practitioner to be victorious.

Let's keep the tradition of yoga alive!   :)

Ashtanga = 8 limbs
Ha = Moon
Tha = Sun
Yoga = Union
Yama = Ethical restraints
     ahimsa = non-harming
     satya = truth
     asteya = non-stealing
     brahmacharya = integrity in relationship to sexuality
     aparigraha = freedom from desire or greed
Niyama = Observance
     shaucha = purity/cleanliness
     santosa = contentment
     tapas = self-discipline/burning spiritual ardor
     svadhyaya = mindfulness/self-study
     Ishvara Pranidhana = surrender (to god or the absolute)
Vinyasa = Flow/moving meditation/linking of movement and breath


The path is clear, n'est-ce pas?


OM MANI PADME OM

= "the jewel is in the lotus flower"





 

Miracle

Listen!

Do you hear it?
I do.
I can feel it.
I expect a miracle is coming.
It has set loose this restlessness inside of me.

Expect it.
Dream about it.
Give birth to it in your being.
Know!  Something good is coming down the line.
Finding its way to you like all things find their way to god's children.

Listen!

~Jewel, "A Night Without Armor"

2005... Cleaning out the closet.

Western culture today is eminently different than it was when the land was cultivated by native peoples.  We have moved away from being in touch with the landscape, knowing what is available for out comsumption and what is not, and how strategically we can adapt our surroundings without forcefully manipulating them.  The capitalist economy has become an engine of consumption and waste on an enormous scale with too many problems, too many people, and not enough intrinsic knowledge or understanding circulating to redeem itself.  This is acutely apparent in the fields of restoration ecology, ecosystem management, and ecological risk assessment.  In reading Hobbs' and others' (2004) paper, "Restoration ecology: the challenge of social values and expectation", one becomes highly aware of the anthropocentric bias that is introduced into decision-making regarding ecosystems.  It is a conundrum because without scientific tests, we no longer know to what degree we have affected our surroundings; we simply can no longer tell.  One might say that it has spun out of control.  Our "world" and our "reality" has grown faster than we have been able to actually see and feel and understand what has been happening and to what degree we have actually altered our environment from the pre-Industrial Revolution era.  It would suffice to say (in an abstract sense) that humans have succeeded in over-powering evolution.

We are all shaped by our past and our present.

Coconut manna is the S#@* !!

1/2 cup cooked basmati rice
1/4 cup soy milk (or any other milk)
Boil 5 minutes.

2-4 tbs coconut manna (to liking)
1/2 of a mango diced (chunks)
large handful sliced strawberries
After mixing all together remove from heat.  Serve yourself and add a tsp of honey (also to your liking).

Coconut manna is the S*@# !!

Pons Asinorum.

They say a rolling stone gathers no moss.  This may be true.  In fact, it is definitely true.  Lets think about the qualities of moss and the conditions in which it thrives for a moment.  For moss to grow, it must have a surface on which it can take root.  There must be adequate water and nutrients.  For this water and these nutrients to collect, the surface on which the moss would like to grow must be stagnant.  The surface on which the moss takes hold must be slightly porous.  It must be porous, but not so porous that other larger plants could take a hold and compete with the moss.  There must be sunlight to fuel the growth, but not so much sunlight that it dries things out.  So in fact, there must be mostly shade.  This is not a tumultuous environment.  This is a settled, complete, stable, orderly, peaceful environment.  But, you might not ever get anything done being this sedentary.

And what about the alternative?  The extreme alternative is that if you were this rock, you would constantly be in motion.  Imagine a medium sized rock just larger than a man's fist careening down a mountainside.  This rock (were it an animate object) does not have time to look around.  It does not see where its going or what cliff its about to bounce off of next.  This rock is in constant motion.  It follows a frenzied, harried, unimpeded trajectory down the mountainside, always downward because it is being propelled by gravity.  This rock in this interplay with gravity does not have a choice unless by some divine intervention it comes to rest.  As it bounces and reels through the air, this rock does not gather moss.  It may even crack and abrade its otherwise smooth surface.  But, it has a direction.  Propelled by forces beyond its control it has begun on this path.  Then, BAM!

A test.

Wait.  Rocks don't get tested, they just do as they're told.

But, people, ah yes.  People are tested in this life.  It is a self-test.  The test begins with forces acting upon us outside of our control and they often open those neatly packaged gifts, sitting high on the shelf that were meant to be better opened when the time was right.  "When the time was right".  The time is never right, now is it?

Pons Asinorum, in Latin, translates to "bridge of asses" or "bridge of fools".  It was initially coined by Euclid to explain the theorum of the isosceles triangle.  Well, geometry is boring.  Straight lines are boring.  What is more interesting to ponder about the pons asinorum is that it can be thought of as a test, a metaphor if you will.  The "bridge of fools" describes a test that can seperate the weak minded from the strong, a test of will, intelligence, and ability.  It is an initial challenge which foretell of the harder propositions which follow.  The pons asinorum is a test which severely challenges the ability of the inexperienced person.

Isn't this life?  Aren't we constantly being tested especially when there is a lack of experience?  Is this not the best way to learn how to unwrap and accept the gift that was neatly packaged and stacked away?

Hmmm.... we'll find out if I learned anything when I have a shiny, new ACL constructed from some pieces of hamstring tendon.

OM NAMAH SHIVAYA
  
  

An Invitation

The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

It doesn’t interest me
what you do for a living.
I want to know
what you ache for
and if you dare to dream
of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me
how old you are.
I want to know
if you will risk
looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me
what planets are
squaring your moon...
I want to know
if you have touched
the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened
by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know
if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know
if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you
to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations
of being human.

It doesn’t interest me
if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear
the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know
if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”

It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live
or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me
who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me
where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know
what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.

I want to know
if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like
the company you keep
in the empty moments.

................................................................................

As you enter the room and take your shoes off at the door, you gaze around.  Warmth emanates from the space and fills you.  Your soul becomes heavy as it settles down into your body as if to say, "Yes.  I want to be here.  I am home."  The light is dim and comes only from a medium sized fire glowing in the fireplace across the room.  You wonder if the room is warm because of the fire, but your skin tells you otherwise.  The warmth comes from a different place.  Taking in the architecture of the place, you notice the traditional Japanese style woodworking surrounding you.  The wood is stained a deep, rich mahogany sheen.  The glow of the fire bounces and plays shadowy games on the simplicity of the walls.  In this moment, you are no where else but here.  The warmth has traveled through you and settled your mind.  This allows you to recognize a woman seated near the fire and to your right.  She has been watching you enter the room.  With a soft smile gently touching the corners of her mouth, her gaze meets yours.  You think you see her smile broaden infinitely and welcome you into the room, but you are certain that she has not moved.  You think maybe the shadows are playing tricks with her delicate and wise features.  The woman is weathered.  Her skin is glowing radiant even in the dim light.  The soft wrinkles around her eyes and mouth speak of years and years.  She is seated comfortably on a small cushion without fidgeting, without shifting.  Her soft, off white clothing hangs on her well cared for body as if they were one.  Just as you begin to become slightly unsure of what to do next, the woman speaks.  "Welcome."  And, somehow you know, you understand, that you have not only entered a beautiful, special place; you have entered into a sacred contract between this woman whom you do not know, yourself, and this space.  She speaks again.  "You may stay as long as you wish."  Again, the message is clear.  This space has been held open for you and for countless before you so that you may fulfill your destiny.  There are covenants that you must adhere to in order to remain in the good graces of this woman, of this place.  But, you know that it is worth it.  Waiting for you beyond these walls is profound and immeasurable change, is a world full of color and light and wisdom.    




"Now at last I'm home to you, 
I feel like making up for lost time."