Today I started the morning off frying up a whole red onion, a whole potato, four cloves of garlic and three eggs in a pan. And then eating it on the back porch with French Press coffee and detox tea.
Read a lot of The Botany of Desire. Learned so much, and learned that the human body has cannabinoid receptors, and produces it’s own chemicals similar to getting high off pot. It has receptors for other substances like LSD, mushrooms, etc. proving that getting high without substances is completely possible and what happens when you meditate, do breathing exercises, become immersed in creating art, etc. It’s not a similar high– it’s actually the same high, your body activating those parts of your brain that are functional for a purpose, but sometimes become over stimulated, thus creating that consciousness changing feeling- transcendence, nirvana or smoking a joint.
Michael Pollan explained it much, much better than I just did. I highly recommend his book. I’ve learned so much about the physical world, things I never found interesting before. Turns out I just needed a good writer to guide me through it.
Well this is an unexpected plot twist.
I’m turning into a surprisingly good cook!
It really is a meditative art, and settling aside time to create beautiful and delicious food is now a high priority.
Because no one else is fixing my lentils, quinoa and beans for me.
Sauteed red onions and garlic. And then added to boiling lentils with tomatoes, tumeric, salt pepper and and curry powder.
Started a separate pot of quinoa with olive oil. Threw chopped broccoli, onions and tomatoes in last minute, so they were still a bit crunchy and textured when the quinoa was fluffy and done.
Spooned half a bowl of my quinoa mix, and topped it with the lentils.
And then I cleaned the entire kitchen, and threw out weeks old food and washed the massive dishes.
So much more room in the fridge now.
Enough room to store my leftover feast.
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On a side note, I woke up really pissed off this morning to grocery shopping:
Nothing I wanted got bought. But instead we got three times as much milk, cheese, and lunch meat.
Five packages of lunch meat for a week. That’s a whole pack a day. Servings per container: 18
Carnivores.
Decided I will not feel bad for eating all of the vegetables. There is nothing being bought specifically for me, so I will eat a full meal of fruit and vegetables.
I will eat my 18 servings a day of vegetables.
And I will learn to cook in the process.
X
About to go running, after I let my food settle a bit. Everyone is at the reservoir today– it’s about half a mile away and includes community use kayaks and boats. I’m loving the quietness around the house. I can really only cook when no one is home. When we are all buzzing around the kitchen it is so anxiety inducing I just choose not to eat. So days like this are perfect.
Our house is also a fifteen minute walk away from a redwood forest. I’m headed out there for a run soon. Jess just got back from meditating topless out there, she just informed me. I love her.
Can’t explore and hike that far though, because of the threat of illegal weed farmers with firearms.
Spent all morning outside on the back porch shivering in the shade, drinking chai tea with honey reading The Botany of Desire by Michael Polan. Realizing you don’t have to be an expert to write brilliantly on subjects, you just have to be interested. And as long as you write about what you’re interested in, it rings genuine and true, and other people appreciate it. Not all people, but some. And that’s life. Write for you.
There are horses in my backyard. Today a black one and a brown one, just grazing on the grass and soaking up the sun.
Tomorrow everyone is either volunteering with the horse program, or else helping Hunter and his family work in their garden. He’s making Mexican food and drinks for everyone who comes to help out, and his brother’s boyfriend is making the coffee. When we went to the Grange meeting he announced this event, so all the farmers in the area will come together to help him, as he does them on other weekends. It’s really cool, turning work into community.
Have I told you about the sunburn? I am so sunburned on my nose, like a sassy little Irishman. It’s 65 out in the day, supposed to reach 75 this wekeend. But 65 feels like 80- with the dry air and the valley atmosphere. Something about the mountains surrounding us channels that heat down on us like nothing I’ve ever experienced. Summer sunshine in January, you’re so new to me.
Sill gets freezing cold at night.
X
This morning when we woke up we had no food in the house. Everyone was complaining, and then I said we had potatoes.
Alyssa and I fixed up a mess of sliced fried potatoes with garlic, olive oil, rosemary, parsley and oregano. Everyone jumped them, and said what good cooks we were.
Just because I am horrible at following recipes, and hate following recipes doesn’t have to mean I am a bad cook.
Innovation might be one of the most important parts of cooking. Especially for situations like this.
But also. I’m not your mother.
I’m not going to cook food for everyone everyday.
This is my dahl.
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As I was having these thoughts, the neighbors came over and offered me a cup of coffee. One of the guys visiting is a professional barista. He brought all his supplies and produced a lovely glass vase full of beautiful dark coffee from Ethiopia.
That blueberry aftertaste.
; )
Did I ever tell you my leader grew up in Ethiopia? They lived there 10-20, one of the things I like talking to them about. Especially about the food and the natural remedies.
That’s where the clove of garlic a day came from. Paired with an orange it’s supposed to boost your immune system.
Backtrack.
Community living.
Yes, it’s beautiful to share. And in a way, my protectiveness over my homemade lentils is not very community oriented. But at the same time, I don’t have an excess supply of pre-prepared protein in the fridge to dip into whenever I feel like it throughout the day and make myself a factory farm sandwich on white bread.
So this is mine. You enjoy yours.
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I’ll share my lentils with the neighbors.
Everyday Embellishments 