Wow it's been a while. I realized today that I turn to this blog when I'm feeling something strongly, as opposed to a daily commitment to write something random every day. Today I feel restless. One of my good friends is getting married this Saturday, and while it goes against everything I've been taught as a teenager, a growing young woman and a blossoming yogi, I'm super worried about looking slamming in my bridesmaid dress. It's an expensive, beautiful navy silk dress with a sweetheart neckline and a super tiny waist that makes my body look nothing like its normal self, but as all other women do, I keep thinking about my arms and those little flabs of extra skin we all have near our armpits. Those need to make themselves scarce on Saturday.
As such, I've been really committed to eating like a boss for the last 6 weeks (well, summer in general but more so in the month and a bit leading up to the wedding) and going to yoga whenever possible. It's been going super super well! This is the week, however, where even a salt-laden side dish can make you feel disgusting and bloated and awful, so I'm watching myself like a hawk, if only to avoid feeling gross this weekend.
Of course, as my luck would have it, this is the week where I crave everything that's ever been deemed bad for the human body. You name it: chips, chocolate cupcakes, garlic bread (read: carbs, carbs, carbs). Normally my thought process goes something like "ahh it's ok, what can one cupcake possibly do to my body that I can't erase tomorrow??" but let's not forget that it's that kind of thinking that makes us feel miserable in the first place.
Tonight's yoga class was Baptiste with Jaime, and it was one of those unique, challenging workshop-type classes where we worked up to the revered handstand all class. You cannot cop out and fake it halfway through, because while it may not muck up the entire experience, it's the next attempt that really suffers. Just like the cupcake, you cannot take one step forward and two steps back, not even once or twice (when you're really committing for a special occasion, let's not go nuts and deprive ourselves of the better things in life like fatty pastries!) because it's the mental that breaks down. It tends to deteriorate at an alarming rate, even though our arms are still strong, and our legs are still working.
In the end, cost-benefit is essential, and I keep re-learning one of the most treasured lessons: you've got to do the work. No pain, no gain.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Completion
I'm still in my hot room gear as I write this. We are now 32 days past the first mention of this challenge, and I'm proud and thrilled to say I did it!! And not only that, but I surpassed the challenge by completing 30 in-studio days and 2 at-home days. The studio was closed for two days over the course of the challenge (once to honour a member of the yoga community and once to honour our white weather), so I took the liberty of continuing the yoga streak and moving to breath every day for the last 32.
So how do I feel?
My teacher Mona has us offer gratitude to ourselves after every practice, in silence, in which we thank ourselves and our teachers. She dutifully reminds us that we are so blessed to have bodies that can move...not everyone is as fortunate as we are. These words resonate today in particular, as I think back on my challenge. The challenge is the ultimate fusion of body and mind, where our bodies are blessed with movement, and our minds are blessed with the control over that movement. Our breath, our muscles and bones, our hearts and our eyes. We can control it all.
In terms of how my physical body has improved, I am now the proud owner of a new set of "yoga arms" and strong shoulders. I am slimmer long the legs and my SKIN!! My skin is clear and soft, glowing with ease after each practice. I smile more, I crave more vegetables and fruit, and I sleep more soundly. I am a more positive, pleasant person and have learned to let the small stuff dissolve, in the same way that a bead of sweat rolls off my face in the hot room. I care less about what I look like, have greater confidence, wear less makeup and I feel that there is extra life behind my eyes and in my heart.
This challenge teaches patience, strength, determination and willfulness. I have learned to steady my breath and move with it, leading to slower more fluid expressions of the poses and a still mind. I've deepened my understanding of what it feels like to look inward, especially during the asanas, and have surprised myself at my ability to focus. The skills I gathered over the course of my challenge apply directly off the mat. In difficult situations, we breathe and move inward, taking time to regroup and refocus. Yeah, yeah, yeah...we've heard this all before. Calm the mind, breathe slowly, move mindfully. But have you really ever truly done this? In sivasana are you laying with your eyes closed waiting for class to be over or are you in your heart and your mind, oblivious to that bead of sweat dripping down your ear, to where your limbs are, even to the floor beneath you? Sivasana is the toughest pose for me, but the 30-day challenge taught me how to find that still place far away and be at peace there.
Peace. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.
Namaste
So how do I feel?
My teacher Mona has us offer gratitude to ourselves after every practice, in silence, in which we thank ourselves and our teachers. She dutifully reminds us that we are so blessed to have bodies that can move...not everyone is as fortunate as we are. These words resonate today in particular, as I think back on my challenge. The challenge is the ultimate fusion of body and mind, where our bodies are blessed with movement, and our minds are blessed with the control over that movement. Our breath, our muscles and bones, our hearts and our eyes. We can control it all.
In terms of how my physical body has improved, I am now the proud owner of a new set of "yoga arms" and strong shoulders. I am slimmer long the legs and my SKIN!! My skin is clear and soft, glowing with ease after each practice. I smile more, I crave more vegetables and fruit, and I sleep more soundly. I am a more positive, pleasant person and have learned to let the small stuff dissolve, in the same way that a bead of sweat rolls off my face in the hot room. I care less about what I look like, have greater confidence, wear less makeup and I feel that there is extra life behind my eyes and in my heart.
This challenge teaches patience, strength, determination and willfulness. I have learned to steady my breath and move with it, leading to slower more fluid expressions of the poses and a still mind. I've deepened my understanding of what it feels like to look inward, especially during the asanas, and have surprised myself at my ability to focus. The skills I gathered over the course of my challenge apply directly off the mat. In difficult situations, we breathe and move inward, taking time to regroup and refocus. Yeah, yeah, yeah...we've heard this all before. Calm the mind, breathe slowly, move mindfully. But have you really ever truly done this? In sivasana are you laying with your eyes closed waiting for class to be over or are you in your heart and your mind, oblivious to that bead of sweat dripping down your ear, to where your limbs are, even to the floor beneath you? Sivasana is the toughest pose for me, but the 30-day challenge taught me how to find that still place far away and be at peace there.
Peace. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.
Namaste
Friday, January 14, 2011
Fall Down 7, Stand Up 8
Yesterday, Samatva honoured the life of Jennifer Leeder, an instructor at Life Yoga here in Kingston, who tragically passed away on January 9, 2011. She was a good friend of the studio and as a sign of respect, Samatva shut its doors at both the west end and downtown locations on the day of her funeral.
As a result, yesterday I established my first home practice. I have played around with asanas at home, yes. But delivering your own sequence, deciding when it is time to push and when it is time to let go and breathe are undertakings I had never tried before. Over the last 5 days I've discovered that I have a much stronger drive to success, better discipline that I anticipated and as such, I not only finished my at-home sequence (sivasana, cat-cow, surya namaskar x3, warriors, lunges, extended side angle, twists, surya namaskar x3, shoulder stand, reclined twists, sivasana), but I spent just as much time as I would at the studio, which surprised me. Isn't it true that when pushed by external forces (aka. someone else), we don't have a choice of whether to quit or not? We just do. At home, when only our inner voice is speaking and pushing to go further, it is much easier to silence this voice, listen to our bodies, and quit. I allowed my inner voice to speak and as it did, I acknowledged and observed it, then let it pass without acting on it. Of this I am very proud.
Let this be a lesson for our every day lives. Michelle uses a great tactic to push us to hold poses for longer, force us to push through discomfort and breathe, look inward. She says "if you start feeling uncomfortable, if your body starts speaking to you that you just can't do it anymore and that it's time to let go, hold for one more round of breath....and if your body continues to speak, hold for one more." It reminds me of a Chinese proverb: "Fall down 7, stand up 8." I hope to carry this optimistic drive over the course of the next 25 days.
Every one of us can carry this attitude off the mat and apply it to our daily lives. When you just can't deal anymore, stay another 5 minutes. If after that, you still can't deal, stay another 5. If you just can't read on, read one more paragraph, and then another. Learning tolerance and discipline to move along despite discomfort is a powerful lesson and I'm thankful to my body and myself that I was able to bring myself to the mat despite a complete lack of experience, guidance and incentive (I could easily lie and tell the studio I practiced and snuggle into bed with a book, or logged this day as one of two allowed rest days).
For all of our hard work, discipline and drive, we must always take time to thank our teachers. The obvious ones, like our professors, parents, yoga instructors. The not-so-obvious ones, like people we struggle to get along with or enemies we have made along our paths. And ourselves. Always thank yourself for the things you allowed yourself to do, despite your better judgement, despite fatigue and stress, and despite pain.
As a result, yesterday I established my first home practice. I have played around with asanas at home, yes. But delivering your own sequence, deciding when it is time to push and when it is time to let go and breathe are undertakings I had never tried before. Over the last 5 days I've discovered that I have a much stronger drive to success, better discipline that I anticipated and as such, I not only finished my at-home sequence (sivasana, cat-cow, surya namaskar x3, warriors, lunges, extended side angle, twists, surya namaskar x3, shoulder stand, reclined twists, sivasana), but I spent just as much time as I would at the studio, which surprised me. Isn't it true that when pushed by external forces (aka. someone else), we don't have a choice of whether to quit or not? We just do. At home, when only our inner voice is speaking and pushing to go further, it is much easier to silence this voice, listen to our bodies, and quit. I allowed my inner voice to speak and as it did, I acknowledged and observed it, then let it pass without acting on it. Of this I am very proud.
Let this be a lesson for our every day lives. Michelle uses a great tactic to push us to hold poses for longer, force us to push through discomfort and breathe, look inward. She says "if you start feeling uncomfortable, if your body starts speaking to you that you just can't do it anymore and that it's time to let go, hold for one more round of breath....and if your body continues to speak, hold for one more." It reminds me of a Chinese proverb: "Fall down 7, stand up 8." I hope to carry this optimistic drive over the course of the next 25 days.
Every one of us can carry this attitude off the mat and apply it to our daily lives. When you just can't deal anymore, stay another 5 minutes. If after that, you still can't deal, stay another 5. If you just can't read on, read one more paragraph, and then another. Learning tolerance and discipline to move along despite discomfort is a powerful lesson and I'm thankful to my body and myself that I was able to bring myself to the mat despite a complete lack of experience, guidance and incentive (I could easily lie and tell the studio I practiced and snuggle into bed with a book, or logged this day as one of two allowed rest days).
For all of our hard work, discipline and drive, we must always take time to thank our teachers. The obvious ones, like our professors, parents, yoga instructors. The not-so-obvious ones, like people we struggle to get along with or enemies we have made along our paths. And ourselves. Always thank yourself for the things you allowed yourself to do, despite your better judgement, despite fatigue and stress, and despite pain.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
30-Day Yoga Challenge
I decided to do this challenge about 6 months ago, when I first saw that the studio was offering 30- and 40-day challenges. Come February, I will have been practicing yoga for a year. In this year, I will have also switched to vegetarianism, rid my life of all the drama, made huge steps towards the completion of my master's, and overall become a more balanced, joyful person. It seemed only appropriate to close this first year of change with a challenge like this one.
The 30-Day Yoga Challenge is offered a few times a year at Samatva. The challenge is exactly as it sounds: attend 30 in-studio yoga classes in 30 days. Classes range in length from 45 to 75 mins (usually 75) and can be either hot or room temperature, power or gentle and everything in between. Thankfully, samatva offers over 30 classes a week, so choosing which class to go to is the least of your worries.
Since last February, I have practiced on average 3 times a week. The most yoga I have ever done is 6 days in a row. I am excited and anxious to see how practicing every single day for a month is going to change my body, and more importantly, change my mind. Devout yogis say that you can control which thoughts you experience and which ones you don't, and that yoga is the personification of "mind over matter." Yesterday I heard once of my teachers tell us that pain is in the mind. Of all the cliches to hear during a hot yoga class in which your body is contorted, twisted and pushed to its limit, this last one isn't the most encouraging. However, something I have heard over and over again in the studio is "this too shall pass," one I don't mind hearing as much.
I have been to 2 of my 30 classes, both 7:00am prana vinyasas. It isn't the first time I've gone to two classes in a row. It is the first time, however, that I realized that committing yourself to an hour a day of something really isn't that much time in the grand scheme of things. I had a full day at work today, and by the time I dealt with my data issues, discussed chair covers with Laura, trudged home through the snow, fed the cat, took a call from my landlord, fed myself and unwound a bit, I almost forgot that this morning I was cursing myself for starting this challenge in the first place. Hell, I even forgot that I went to yoga!
Everyday life presents us with all kinds of hurdles to overcome. A headache this morning...a huge roadblock with my data...worrying about whether or not I'd have to go replace my phone today... .. all these things end up being WAY more stressful and of consequence than the hour I spent in the morning sweating a bit and trying to will my hamstrings into submission. My body and my breathing, I can control. The rest is completely unknown, and if we can just gain control of an hour of our lives at a time and clear our heads, I feel we're already ahead.
Aside from all this introspection into intention and purpose, I have also decided to change up my diet a bit this month as well. A friend told me when I started this challenge that she knew a girl who did this too, but also did a 30-day cleanse on top of it and almost died. I won't go that crazy, but have decided to cut alcohol and decrease my portion sizes. While weight loss and slimming might be nice side effects, my main intention with this is to keep my energy up and my body light. I've also realized that cutting down bedtime snacks has a huge effect on how you feel in the morning and the entire next day.
The effort continues tomorrow... :)
The 30-Day Yoga Challenge is offered a few times a year at Samatva. The challenge is exactly as it sounds: attend 30 in-studio yoga classes in 30 days. Classes range in length from 45 to 75 mins (usually 75) and can be either hot or room temperature, power or gentle and everything in between. Thankfully, samatva offers over 30 classes a week, so choosing which class to go to is the least of your worries.
Since last February, I have practiced on average 3 times a week. The most yoga I have ever done is 6 days in a row. I am excited and anxious to see how practicing every single day for a month is going to change my body, and more importantly, change my mind. Devout yogis say that you can control which thoughts you experience and which ones you don't, and that yoga is the personification of "mind over matter." Yesterday I heard once of my teachers tell us that pain is in the mind. Of all the cliches to hear during a hot yoga class in which your body is contorted, twisted and pushed to its limit, this last one isn't the most encouraging. However, something I have heard over and over again in the studio is "this too shall pass," one I don't mind hearing as much.
I have been to 2 of my 30 classes, both 7:00am prana vinyasas. It isn't the first time I've gone to two classes in a row. It is the first time, however, that I realized that committing yourself to an hour a day of something really isn't that much time in the grand scheme of things. I had a full day at work today, and by the time I dealt with my data issues, discussed chair covers with Laura, trudged home through the snow, fed the cat, took a call from my landlord, fed myself and unwound a bit, I almost forgot that this morning I was cursing myself for starting this challenge in the first place. Hell, I even forgot that I went to yoga!
Everyday life presents us with all kinds of hurdles to overcome. A headache this morning...a huge roadblock with my data...worrying about whether or not I'd have to go replace my phone today... .. all these things end up being WAY more stressful and of consequence than the hour I spent in the morning sweating a bit and trying to will my hamstrings into submission. My body and my breathing, I can control. The rest is completely unknown, and if we can just gain control of an hour of our lives at a time and clear our heads, I feel we're already ahead.
Aside from all this introspection into intention and purpose, I have also decided to change up my diet a bit this month as well. A friend told me when I started this challenge that she knew a girl who did this too, but also did a 30-day cleanse on top of it and almost died. I won't go that crazy, but have decided to cut alcohol and decrease my portion sizes. While weight loss and slimming might be nice side effects, my main intention with this is to keep my energy up and my body light. I've also realized that cutting down bedtime snacks has a huge effect on how you feel in the morning and the entire next day.
The effort continues tomorrow... :)
Thursday, January 6, 2011
The Challah
After getting home late tonight and realizing that I wasn't quite ready to sit down with the novel Lisa is having me read (Nora Roberts' The Search), I decided to try my hand at challah, a traditional Jewish braided loaf that I'd seen beautiful photographs of in my Williams-Sonoma cookbook but hadn't had time time or guts to try yet.
The idea of a braided loaf begins with manna, a sweet honey-like food thought to have dropped from the heavens as a gift from God to the Iraelites after returning to Egypt after 40 years of exodus. As such, Sabbath and holiday meals in the Jewish tradition begin with the consumption of two complete loaves of bread. The braiding of the bread is characteristic of challah and makes this sweet egg bread instantly recognizable. On Rosh Hashanah, it is sometimes made as a braided circle, symbolizing the completion of another cycle, or year.
Challah is an egg bread, meaning that it is made with a large number of eggs (this recipe called for 2 eggs + 2 yolks), and is sweetened with sugar, honey or molasses (sugar, in this case). It is also brushed with egg wash and sprinkled with sesame seeds, adding to its beautiful brown colouring.
I have been having some major issues with yeast over the last few months. I am sans bread machine and until I can afford it/bribe Santa, sans KitchenAid stand mixer with dough hook. As such, I knead and make bread entirely by hand. To make the task easier and get better results, I went to Tara and got some bread flour (or strong flour, which has a high gluten content, giving bread its characteristic stretch). For some reason unknown to me, I cannot get my bread to leaven properly. I've ruined 3 or 4 different bread recipes using just as many variations on the kneading length (too much kneading can cause the gluten to break down), using fresh yeast packets (I had originally used bulk dry active yeast from Tara and switched to brand new envelopes), using cooler water to proof the yeast, opting out of using sugar to help the yeast along, you name it. I CANNOT get it to go! The bread bakes and tastes ok, but since December I keep baking big ol' bricks of dough that have barely risen, and simply get baked in the interest of time. Some recipes will call for a 12 hour rise, but who has time for that?
Anyhow, so the same problems unfortunately followed me into this recipe. The Joy of Cooking calls for three separate resting periods in which the dough is to rise. I can't imagine that challah, let alone any bread, is meant to be super dense and practically sawed into slices. Nevertheless, the bread tastes amazing and I totally recommend this recipe to anyone who wants to expand his/her bread-making repertoire.
Also, any tips would be GREATLY appreciated.
ps. The recipe used can be found on page 601 of The Joy of Cooking, 75th Edition. Other than the leavening fails, I shortened the second rise to about an hour, and kept it at room temperature.
The idea of a braided loaf begins with manna, a sweet honey-like food thought to have dropped from the heavens as a gift from God to the Iraelites after returning to Egypt after 40 years of exodus. As such, Sabbath and holiday meals in the Jewish tradition begin with the consumption of two complete loaves of bread. The braiding of the bread is characteristic of challah and makes this sweet egg bread instantly recognizable. On Rosh Hashanah, it is sometimes made as a braided circle, symbolizing the completion of another cycle, or year.
Challah is an egg bread, meaning that it is made with a large number of eggs (this recipe called for 2 eggs + 2 yolks), and is sweetened with sugar, honey or molasses (sugar, in this case). It is also brushed with egg wash and sprinkled with sesame seeds, adding to its beautiful brown colouring.
I have been having some major issues with yeast over the last few months. I am sans bread machine and until I can afford it/bribe Santa, sans KitchenAid stand mixer with dough hook. As such, I knead and make bread entirely by hand. To make the task easier and get better results, I went to Tara and got some bread flour (or strong flour, which has a high gluten content, giving bread its characteristic stretch). For some reason unknown to me, I cannot get my bread to leaven properly. I've ruined 3 or 4 different bread recipes using just as many variations on the kneading length (too much kneading can cause the gluten to break down), using fresh yeast packets (I had originally used bulk dry active yeast from Tara and switched to brand new envelopes), using cooler water to proof the yeast, opting out of using sugar to help the yeast along, you name it. I CANNOT get it to go! The bread bakes and tastes ok, but since December I keep baking big ol' bricks of dough that have barely risen, and simply get baked in the interest of time. Some recipes will call for a 12 hour rise, but who has time for that?
Anyhow, so the same problems unfortunately followed me into this recipe. The Joy of Cooking calls for three separate resting periods in which the dough is to rise. I can't imagine that challah, let alone any bread, is meant to be super dense and practically sawed into slices. Nevertheless, the bread tastes amazing and I totally recommend this recipe to anyone who wants to expand his/her bread-making repertoire.
Also, any tips would be GREATLY appreciated.
ps. The recipe used can be found on page 601 of The Joy of Cooking, 75th Edition. Other than the leavening fails, I shortened the second rise to about an hour, and kept it at room temperature.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
108 Salutations
I have changed.
I am strong.
I am gentle.
I am wise.
I am fragile.
I am radiant.
I belong.
I understand.
I collect.
I succeed.
I love.
This morning, I participated in and completed 108 sun salutations at my yoga studio. The number 108 is auspicious in the yoga world for a number of reasons...for example, it is said that there are 108 paths to enlightenment, 108 channels leading into the heart chakra, etc.
For me, this challenge symbolized my physical ability to complete this challenge, but more closely resembles what I can only describe as my annual reset button. After a year of change, challenge and growth, it seemed appropriate to honour and celebrate who I am now and test my strength for the coming year's trials. Every 10 salutations, I set a new intention, as above, and kept an internal mantra, along with steady breathing.
After 40-50 salutations, I came to realize I was only half finished, and I realized this was a tougher undertaking than I originally thought. Around 70, my arms started to give out, and coming down from plank into updog became quite the bicep and shoulder burner. Finally, the last 18 salutations left me feeling energized and powerful, with only the final 3 feeling like a struggle, like my arms might actually snap in two.
I am super proud of myself for having achieved this, and rewarded myself with a big breakfast quinoa scramble (black beans, quinoa, corn, tomatoes, salsa, cilantro, cheese, lime yogurt and a poached egg. yummm!!), more coffee and now, a hot relaxing shower.
I want to wish everyone a fruitful, transformative new year, filled with every joy and lots of smiles :)
Shanti shanti shanti,
Namaste
I am strong.
I am gentle.
I am wise.
I am fragile.
I am radiant.
I belong.
I understand.
I collect.
I succeed.
I love.
This morning, I participated in and completed 108 sun salutations at my yoga studio. The number 108 is auspicious in the yoga world for a number of reasons...for example, it is said that there are 108 paths to enlightenment, 108 channels leading into the heart chakra, etc.
For me, this challenge symbolized my physical ability to complete this challenge, but more closely resembles what I can only describe as my annual reset button. After a year of change, challenge and growth, it seemed appropriate to honour and celebrate who I am now and test my strength for the coming year's trials. Every 10 salutations, I set a new intention, as above, and kept an internal mantra, along with steady breathing.
After 40-50 salutations, I came to realize I was only half finished, and I realized this was a tougher undertaking than I originally thought. Around 70, my arms started to give out, and coming down from plank into updog became quite the bicep and shoulder burner. Finally, the last 18 salutations left me feeling energized and powerful, with only the final 3 feeling like a struggle, like my arms might actually snap in two.
I am super proud of myself for having achieved this, and rewarded myself with a big breakfast quinoa scramble (black beans, quinoa, corn, tomatoes, salsa, cilantro, cheese, lime yogurt and a poached egg. yummm!!), more coffee and now, a hot relaxing shower.
I want to wish everyone a fruitful, transformative new year, filled with every joy and lots of smiles :)
Shanti shanti shanti,
Namaste
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Julie Returns...
I realize it's been over two months since I left this blog hanging, and found myself way too busy (or lazy, whichever you prefer) to copy down the recipes I'd tried and relay them here. A few technical difficulties have manifested themselves as well, namely the sudden death of my camera. I don't feel completely right continuing on writing without sharing photos of the food (aren't 90% of your tastebuds in your eyeballs?), but I will for the time being. We'll see how long I last...
When I last left you, I was a few months into my vegetarianism. I'm glad to report that I am still a vegetarian, and have only indulged in meat a few times: two bites of my mom's creutons, a slice of her Christmas meat lasagna, and a grain-fed free-range chicken breast, all over the break. Not bad. I've been pretty good on my own, still eating fish however. A long discussion with a vegetarian friend of mine a few weeks ago reminded me that I still know nothing about the fishing industry when it comes to food sustainability and manufacturing. It seems I still have some homework to do before I can make an informed decision about consuming fish.
In the meantime, I have expanded my cooking skills, my pantry and my equipment. My grandfather built a spice rack for me, with room for 18 full-sized bottles of my best spices and herbs. I made little labels for each bottle, complete with pencil drawings of the plant or spice as best I could render them. My aunt also got me a second kitchen timer, in the shape of a fat pink piglet. I'm quite pleased with the result; my kitchen finally looks like someone cooks real food in it! My parents got me my very first set of Corningwear for Christmas, as well as a small 3.3L dutch oven. I still plan on cooking bigger dishes in my grandmother's Le Creuset, whose enamel is worn down to the cast iron and which my mother now refuses to cook in. Somehow, even as a biochemist with the knowledge that cooking directly on untreated iron isn't the best idea, I love firing up onions and butter in the very pot that my grandmother and my mother cooked every stew, every pate, every roast and every turkey in for the last 50 years. I can't throw a pot like that away. I am determined to rearrange my bookshelf to find a cozy spot for it, since I will be using it less and less (mom's orders). I still need to fix up my tiny cupboard space to make space for my new pots too!
Along with the Corningwear and my own dutch oven that perhaps my grandchildren will hold onto and covet one day, I also came into possession of the great The Joy of Cooking for the first time this Christmas. It's about time I got myself a copy of this book! Next on my "essentials" cookbooks are works by Julia Child, Martha Stewart and Ina Garten. Perhaps Emeril's cookbook is out there somewhere too. Either way, I've decided that there's no use having this brick of a book on my shelf if I'm not going to use it to its full advantage and actually read it. For those of you who aren't familiar, The Joy of Cooking isn't just a cookbook. It's an instruction manual, an encyclopedia of food. Why give you the recipe for pan-friend chicken and chicken a la king when the book can spend 10 pages explaining what a chicken is, how to break it down, how to best cook each part, and what to serve it with? I have spent many hours already pouring over it, happy to discover that while it contains aspic and souffle and all kinds of challenging recipes, that it also contains recipes for grilled cheese and homemade soda crackers! I can't wait to dive in.
Tomorrow is my prep day for the countdown to New Year's Eve. Like last year, I'm celebrating at a house party here in Kingston along with some of my closest friends, including Lisa and a few buddies from Bands who are making the trip in from out of province and country. I haven't seen many of them in a while, and I've decided to greet them with hot artichoke dip (my first recipe in the new Corningwear!) and bean and cheese quinoa quesadillas, from a quinoa cookbook my mom offered me for Christmas. I went entirely too dressed up last year, with my sparkly flowy top and my false lashes. This year, I've decided on a bottle of wine, jeans and a pretty top, along with a cute ponytail or something. None of the girls from work are back yet, and I have a feeling I'll miss them come midnight on Friday :(
My parents generously gifted Ernie with a nylon cat tunnel as his present, of course made of the same crinkly material as some baby toys. He's also been crying for the last half hour because his momma forgot to pack the cat food from home this morning, and all we have are cans of wet food and cat cookies. Tomorrow morning I head out first thing after a stiff cup of coffee, to get groceries for this week and food for my hungry kitten.
When I last left you, I was a few months into my vegetarianism. I'm glad to report that I am still a vegetarian, and have only indulged in meat a few times: two bites of my mom's creutons, a slice of her Christmas meat lasagna, and a grain-fed free-range chicken breast, all over the break. Not bad. I've been pretty good on my own, still eating fish however. A long discussion with a vegetarian friend of mine a few weeks ago reminded me that I still know nothing about the fishing industry when it comes to food sustainability and manufacturing. It seems I still have some homework to do before I can make an informed decision about consuming fish.
In the meantime, I have expanded my cooking skills, my pantry and my equipment. My grandfather built a spice rack for me, with room for 18 full-sized bottles of my best spices and herbs. I made little labels for each bottle, complete with pencil drawings of the plant or spice as best I could render them. My aunt also got me a second kitchen timer, in the shape of a fat pink piglet. I'm quite pleased with the result; my kitchen finally looks like someone cooks real food in it! My parents got me my very first set of Corningwear for Christmas, as well as a small 3.3L dutch oven. I still plan on cooking bigger dishes in my grandmother's Le Creuset, whose enamel is worn down to the cast iron and which my mother now refuses to cook in. Somehow, even as a biochemist with the knowledge that cooking directly on untreated iron isn't the best idea, I love firing up onions and butter in the very pot that my grandmother and my mother cooked every stew, every pate, every roast and every turkey in for the last 50 years. I can't throw a pot like that away. I am determined to rearrange my bookshelf to find a cozy spot for it, since I will be using it less and less (mom's orders). I still need to fix up my tiny cupboard space to make space for my new pots too!
Along with the Corningwear and my own dutch oven that perhaps my grandchildren will hold onto and covet one day, I also came into possession of the great The Joy of Cooking for the first time this Christmas. It's about time I got myself a copy of this book! Next on my "essentials" cookbooks are works by Julia Child, Martha Stewart and Ina Garten. Perhaps Emeril's cookbook is out there somewhere too. Either way, I've decided that there's no use having this brick of a book on my shelf if I'm not going to use it to its full advantage and actually read it. For those of you who aren't familiar, The Joy of Cooking isn't just a cookbook. It's an instruction manual, an encyclopedia of food. Why give you the recipe for pan-friend chicken and chicken a la king when the book can spend 10 pages explaining what a chicken is, how to break it down, how to best cook each part, and what to serve it with? I have spent many hours already pouring over it, happy to discover that while it contains aspic and souffle and all kinds of challenging recipes, that it also contains recipes for grilled cheese and homemade soda crackers! I can't wait to dive in.
Tomorrow is my prep day for the countdown to New Year's Eve. Like last year, I'm celebrating at a house party here in Kingston along with some of my closest friends, including Lisa and a few buddies from Bands who are making the trip in from out of province and country. I haven't seen many of them in a while, and I've decided to greet them with hot artichoke dip (my first recipe in the new Corningwear!) and bean and cheese quinoa quesadillas, from a quinoa cookbook my mom offered me for Christmas. I went entirely too dressed up last year, with my sparkly flowy top and my false lashes. This year, I've decided on a bottle of wine, jeans and a pretty top, along with a cute ponytail or something. None of the girls from work are back yet, and I have a feeling I'll miss them come midnight on Friday :(
My parents generously gifted Ernie with a nylon cat tunnel as his present, of course made of the same crinkly material as some baby toys. He's also been crying for the last half hour because his momma forgot to pack the cat food from home this morning, and all we have are cans of wet food and cat cookies. Tomorrow morning I head out first thing after a stiff cup of coffee, to get groceries for this week and food for my hungry kitten.
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