Cardamom

Today my muse is cardamom, probably my favorite spice, after nutmeg, that is. My fingernails are a bit challenged as a result of opening some of the woody-green pods to make Nepali-style chai. Basic recipe is a mix of instructions from my friend U's Nepali mother and my brother S's method of making Kenyan chai after living on the Masai Mara for a time.

Boil up a half saucepan of water with cardamom (you must crack it so the black seeds come out), crushed cloves, crushed cinamon stick (I prefer the soft central american version), three small cross sectional slices of fresh ginger, a shake of nutmeg. After it is good and spicy and brown, add a couple of spoonfuls of tea (preferably an assam/darjeeling mix). Boil it up until you have a rich dark brown. Add the same number of spoonfuls of sugar (preferably demererra) and milk (preferably whole). The amount of milk you add should be equal to the amount of water in the pan. Heat on medium until bubbles just start to form on the surface - don't let it boil and don't worry about stirring it. You can pour it into a teapot with the assistance of a seive. I live on this in the morning, and it gets you going in a wonderful way. And your house smells great. On the downside, my brother refers to this drink (his favorite in the morning) as "colon blaster." :)
















That chai calls for a combo of assam and darjeeling black tea as well as a cinamon stick, fresh ginger, cloves and, of course cardamom.

Although this is the primary way that I am exposed to cardamom these days, my earliest cardamom memory is from the wonderful easter bread that my granny used to make with rough crystalized sugar on top. Lovely and homey scent that always improves my mood.

Lemons

Could not live without them. The only thing to have on salad - with olive oil. I live for dishes that call for lemon zest. My granny ate one whole lemon a day, she claimed it helped her skin. I think she was a glutton for sour punishment, what a fetish!






http://www.bioflavour.it/Limoncello_di_Sorrento_e_Capri.htm

You Are Lemon Meringue Pie

You're the perfect combo of sassy and sweet Those who like you have well refined tastes

What Kind of Pie Are You?

Pink & brown

Just a short muse theme today, pink and brown, across the spectrum, together. To me, this combination speaks of the 1940s, somehow. Lovely and ladylike and rebellious too. Soothing, a natural combination, perhaps like true raspberries in pinky-red shades, hot from the sun in my Granny's late June backyard and melty milk chocolate from Belgium...

Tavuk Kizandibi

(This is pronounced"Tavook kuhzahnduhbuh" in Turkish) This weird roll of "instant artery clogger" (my dad's term of endearment, as opposed to food that is categorized as "instant cavity," such as almond roca) is a mouthwateringly delicious custardy thing, culled from the bottom of a cooking pan, thus the brown caramellishness on one part.

The trick here is that it has miniscule bits of pounded chicken breast in it - a dish made for a Sultan in Istanbul. Might sound horrifying, but being an adventurous eater, I went for it, and loved it. It is just one of the many lovely desserts you can find in Turkey...don't pass it up. There are many types of kizandibi - not all are with tavuk (chicken) so be sure you are getting the right one!

Susurration

My muse for a day today is a sound more than an image, but these images will have to do. Susurration in sand. All I wish for is to be done with this, my final, chapter of my dissertation. I wish to be in a tent in the middle of nowhere listening to the susurration of sand - but without the dratted inconvenience of sandstorms, scorpions or lack of water, so perhaps next to an oasis somewhere, with some date palm trees around, and a nice well for clear water. And a nice carpet on which to nap with a clear mind.

Membrillo

From this strange looking fruit, quince http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quince....

...and these brilliant and lovely flowers that come along as a harbinger of spring....they grow outside of my granny's house on the Cape - prickly and difficult plants with a strange fruit (though not the way billy h. meant it) It has been years since anyone harvested these plants, since my granny died - may be time to dig out some of her old recipes.

...comes a delicious sweet paste, membrillo (en espanol)...which is great con queso, especialmente manchego o queso azul con nueces. I miss this food!









http://www.thinktag.com/country/recipes/membrillo.htm

Comfy feet

My muse for a day is necessitated by the state of my feet this morning, which truly ache terribly. I wore high heeled boots yesterday for the whole day, and while my feet did not hurt while in them, as soon as I took them off, my big toes were in excruciating pain and I wondered what the hell I had been thinking wearing those boots. I think I must be getting old, I used to wear heels a lot more, perhaps it was just the inherent mania of NYC that allowed me to do that, along with a more youthful state, but I certainly can't do it now. I can barely walk today, in truth. Ouch! Honestly, I felt as though I had an iota of what women with bound feet might have felt like (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foot_binding) Oh for the joy of baby feet!














http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foot So this muse for a day is not about a foot fetish, rather, it is about the joy of having comfortable feet, which can manifest in several ways. Comfortable but non-frumpy shoes (http://www.comfortableshoes.com/ or http://www.arche-shoes.com/) , foot massage (see below for more), pedicures and foot baths (think: lavender, mint, eucalyptus, citrus, cedar) - all wonderful things that I wish I had access to today.

Wikipedia on foot or sole massage

"Also known as reflexology, foot massage, as practiced by the Chinese is performed in the context of chi, in that each spot on the sole of the foot corresponds to an internal organ, and the applied therapy is healing to one's overall well being. The theory supposes that an ailment of an internal organ will be associated with the nerve ending on the sole of the foot.

Before the massage, the patient's feet are soaked for about ten minutes in a foot bath, typically a dark colored solution of hot water and Chinese herbs. The massage therapist uses liberal amounts of medicated cream, to moisturize the foot and to provide lubrication. The knuckles on the therapist's hand are usually used to provide a hard and smooth implement for the massage. As pressure is applied to the sole, theory holds that a healthy patient should not feel any strong pain. Painful spots, reflexologists believe, reflect illnesses of other parts of the body. The practitioner rubs and massages the painful spots to break down rough spots and accumulated crystals and increase circulation.

The ailments are healed when the sore spots of the sole are treated and removed by massage. Based on this theory, some shoe liners are made with pressure points to stimulate the soles of the feet to promote better health of the overall body. The nature of these "crystals" has yet to be elucidated or demonstrated scientifically. Regardless of the actual correlation of reflexology to internal organs, many enjoy it for the mix of stimulation and relaxation."

While I do love going barefoot sometimes, and
used to for the entire summer, inasmuch as possible, I do not endorse a barefoot lifestyle, and in fact, I do cringe whenever I see a barefoot hippie wannabe walking along the city streets in bare feet - nonetheless, check out these folks:

http://www.barefooters.org/


...and my ultimate favorite, the body shop's peppermint foot lotion products, nothing like it... buy it in gallons, and see the related products, these people really understand feet:
http://www.thebodyshop.com/bodyshop/browse/sub_category.jsp;jsessionid=GAQHK4WI5WQ1VULSIIXFAFOROJBC0UP4?cm_re=-_-Navigation-_-Body-Foot_Care&categoryId=cat20075

Middle of nowhere

http://www.the-islander.org.ac/webcam/

The middle of nowhere is a place I am very interested in being today, although I must be anywhere but there today as I enter edits into my last dissertation chapter. Wish I could combine the two. Thankfully, there are many places that are still in the middle of nowhere. Here is one that is of interest, as of late...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascension_Island

I think this interest stems from my parents' love of the middle of nowhere - finding a remote place of peace and beauty. I feel as though they were in a constant search for the middle of nowhere, a common passion that they had. We spent at least a month each summer at our camp which was truly almost in the middle of nowhere, at least not much car sound, rural area, no electricity, no plumbing, no phone, not a lot of contact with the outside world. We also spent a lot of time searching for out of the way places in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Grand Manan Island, Newfoundland...and my mom and I took an amazing voyage around Scotland, visiting some truly out there places (Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, Kirkwall in the Orkneys). Indeed, I think their mission of exposing us to this world worked, as I yearn for the peace of it now too, as much as I am a creature of the city. This one is quite hard to get to, but perhaps there is one closer to you.

Flotation

One cold and rainy winter's day, a close friend took me for a "float." I was skeptical, it sounded a bit hippy-dippy to me. As it was described, a float included floating in heavily salinated water in an enclosed room and allowed for your skeletal system to readjust and relax...well, it was amazing.

http://www.londonfloatcentre.com/index.htm

I have not found a flotation center in my city, and the closest I came to that relaxation was floating in the Agean Sea in Southern Turkey, which is quite salty...so here are some floaty images to inspire you. Clearly, my muse for a day relates to my stressed out state at this moment, in an attempt to re-frame!

Turquoise and brown

It is so cold today that somehow these colors seemed warm, so they are my muse for to day. I just simply want to revel in the earthy and ebullient joy that I feel in the combination of turquoise and brown as colors. They bring me energy and peace. The brown is deep and rich, like the New England soil I grew up around, and perhaps the turquoise is inspired by the migration of a chunk of my family to the southwest in recent years-as I have not spent much time in the nubian blue of the west indian ocean...just enjoy...









my love affair with these two colors.... ok, the boots are a bit much, but theoretically gorgeous! this color combination feels rich and grounded and elegant and rebellious too.

See more on these colors:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turquoise

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown

DNA Testing

My muse for a day has to be DNA, and the blessing of the DNA test. Just saw "After Innocence"(http://www.afterinnocence.com/)a film about what has happened to a select group of exonerees - people who were taken out of long prison sentences and/or off of death row after DNA evidence showed that they were not guilty of the crimes for which they were convicted...please see it and support these men and women in any way you can.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dna_testing

Exonerees are not eligible for the assistance they dearly deserve in re-adjusting to community life - while folks on parole are....it is a sad situation that must be addressed. While DNA got them out of prison, it does not help them much in the re-entry phase...please support these men and women as best you can. For more information on how you can help, please see this link: http://www.innocenceproject.org/

Rice timbales

Arroz (rice) as muse for a day. One of my favorite things made by my granny, in a multitude of ways. Perhaps rice is particularly appealing today as I am recovering from a nasty flu...but rice timbales are especially wonderful, if ephemeral, creations, so I celebrate their diversity here............