Resilience

     We had our first frost last night.  I was out at 9pm with a flashlight harvesting my peppers, basil and dill.  The basil is still drying in the dehydrator while the dill waits patiently for a turn. 

     This morning the pepper plants were frozen and black like much of the garden’s inhabitants.  But there standing proud and full of life was the Rosemary and Swiss chard.  I thought why is it that some plants can endure the cold and others just shrivel up and die?  It comes down to resilience.  The ability to come back even stronger after something challenging happens.  I want to be Rosemary.

      Winter is coming and I can’t stop it.  I want a new throw for the couch, a new sweater and new boots.  I want a good book to read and some warm soup and hot tea.  I want to sit and just be.  I want to stop and slow down and get ready for winter.  It’s a mindset, the cold thing, and I am dreading it.  If I can just be, I can enjoy today and the transition to winter.  I don’t have to stress about the holidays, or worry about electric bills; I can just be present today, with my book, my tea and my new warm throw.

     Today I made lentil soup and veggie burgers from cooked grains.  I have been making these recipes for over 30 years.  They still nourish and satisfy after all this time.  Why?  Because they are made with real food and they instantly bring me back to the stories that surround these recipes.

     In Red Boiling Springs at the bottom of Bakerton Hill, we lived on lentil soup and split pea soup.  It was cold the winter of 1977.  It was our first winter as homesteaders and the locals used to say, “Don’t them Yankees know, you get your firewood in August?”

     It was February and the snow was falling as we were trying to fell trees on the side of the hill.  We stopped the traffic as we buzzed them into firebox sized pieces much too green to be burned.  Our pipes froze that winter, too, for 6 weeks.  About as long as the schools were closed in Jackson County.  We’d just bust the ice in the creek and draw water to bath and clean with.  We had a gravity fed spring for drinking and cooking water.

     It was a full days job staying warm, keeping the fire going and getting water.  Oh and of course making soup and hot tea.  In Buffalo, NY they made T-shirts “I survived the winter of ‘77”. I became a pioneer the winter of ‘77 and I loved every minute of it.

Lentil Soup

2-3 Tbls olive oil

1 cup diced onion

2 cloves garlic minced

1 cup diced celery

1 cup diced carrots

½ tsp thyme

½ tsp marjoram

1 tsp basil

1 tsp. oregano

1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes (or fresh)

2 Tbls vegetarian soup blend dissolved in 2 quarts of water

2 cups dry lentils rinsed and drained

Garnish with: (optional)

A squirt of soy sauce

2 tbsp Nutritional cheesy yeast

Heat the oil in a large soup pan.

Saute onion and garlic, add celery and carrots and herbs.

Next add the tomatoes, water, lentils and soup blend.

Simmer 45 minutes until the lentils are tender.

Split Pea Soup

2-3 TBLS olive oil

1 large onion chopped

2 cloves garlic minced

3-4 carrots diced

2-3 celery stalks diced

1 tsp dried rosemary, 1TBLS fresh

2 quart water

2 TBLS veggie soup blend

3 white potatoes diced

2 cups dried split peas rinsed and soaked

salt and pepper to taste

Saute onions and garlic on olive oil

Add carrots and celery

Add rosemary and sauté

Add soup blend to water and add to pot

Add potatoes and dried split peas

Bring to boil and simmer uncovered for 1 - 2 hours until peas are tender

Garnish with nutritional yeast and Bragg’s liquid aminos

Serve with corn bread and salad!

Jam n' Jellyfish

Jellyfish, the name itself conjures up questions. How can a fish be likened to jelly, that sweet gooey yum married to peanut butter on toast? I first encountered a jellyfish at age five in the waters of Laguna Beach, California.  How could such a soft creature have such a pungent sting?  I have tried to avoid

them ever since, but recently believe we can learn from their nature.

The beach is my most favorite place to walk in the world.  Unlike the mountains that provide vistas of nurture and strength, at the sea it is just you and the power of the ocean and the vastness of the sky. You can't deceive yourself by the sea.  Transparency is inevitable.  

I recently spent a week at Kiawah Island with my Connecticut high school girlfriends.  I arrived early with JoAnne from California and we walked along the strand our first morning taking in the sunrise.  California girls see plenty of sunsets but a sunrise, now that's worth getting up for.  Your first walk on the beach each year after the winter has finally rolled back to sleep is always brand new.  The wind and waves and sea birds beckon you to shed your layers of worldliness and human suffering at the tiny boardwalk along with your shoes.  Your feet sink into the sand and the surrender begins.  By the time you reach the surf your heart and soul are ready for the plunge. Leave it all behind.

We strolled along the pristine island uncluttered by seaweed and rocks, suspended in timelessness.  That first morning we spied a lonely jellyfish washed up on the shore.  Fortunately the following days as we played in the waves, we never felt the sting of a jellyfish.  We walked the beach every day and never saw another one until the last morning.   Everyone had left for the airport and Kitty -Jo and I were taking a final jog on the beach and there lay a single jellyfish in the

I wasn't able to capture a picture of us jogging
along the beach that final morning, but this is
how we felt! Energized by friendship, sun and the
currents of life!

sand.  Like bookends to mark our week together on the island their story tells the story of friendship.

The jellyfish is a symbol of acceptance and faith.  The jellyfish does not swim but depends upon movement to sustain life. They move and flow with the currents and teach us the value of trust and acceptance while going with the flow, able to change currents when necessary.  Because of their softness and non-rigidity they have the ability to not become entangled in the webs of life. Their transparency teaches us the power of our own inner strength when we can let vulnerability transport us to authenticity.  

So my conundrum is which name came first? Was jelly named after the fish or the fish named after jelly?

Either way I love jam more than jelly, and they both are made from sweet summer berries! And there is nothing better than homemade jam! You can find a pick your own or buy in volume when the prices are good.

This winter when the beach is a distant summer memory and the freshness of juicy

berries is absent from the marketplace, open your cupboards and indulge in the work of your hands infused with love.  A bit of summer with each bite and you will hear the ocean, leave it all behind.  

Bon appetite!

I have included a recipe for strawberry jam made with honey instead of sugar.  There is also a link for canning basics it you have never had the joy of attempting an amazing age-old art. Talk about feeling empowered!

Strawberry Jam

Ingredients

•                6 cups chopped strawberries

•                Two boxes powdered pectin

•                1 ½ cups honey

•                2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Instructions

1.             Wash and sterilize six 250ml jam jars. Boil the flat parts of the lids in a small pot and keep at a low simmer.

2.            Mash the berries with a potato masher and place in a large heavy bottomed saucepan.

3.            Add the pectin, stir with a wooden spoon, and place on a burner over high heat and bring to a rolling boil. Stir and boil for 1 min.

4.            Remove from heat and add the honey and lemon juice and mix well. Return to heat and bring to a boil again, stirring occasionally. Boil for 5 min, stirring constantly.

5.             Remove jam from heat and let sit for a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally. It will thicken slightly. Ladle jam into hot jars, then place a flat lid on jars, and add screw rings.

Immerse jars in hot water bath, and boil rapidly for 8 min. Remove from bath and place on a towel on the counter to cool.

Resource: http://www.simplebites.net/sugar-free-honey-strawberry-jam

Canning basics

http://www.simplebites.net/canning-101-the-basics