Thanks for yesterday's six-word comments! We had a lovely variety there. Speaking of thanks, when I unbox my Misfits food, I thank aloud the farmworkers who picked, the packers who packed, and the cheerful people who deliver.
When I use an egg, I thank the hen, likewise fish and chicken. I think this is part of cooking. I was happy when I received my copy of the Together cookbook, that the women who contributed recipes often mentioned working prayerfully and thoughtfully. I suspect it's good for digestion, too. To me, prayer has nothing to do with religion or kneeling around. It's the action of living and noticing and just being glad about it.
So above is the food I made yesterday, on the way to the shakshuka page, when I noticed this spicy red lentil recipe, and went for it. It was a lovely meditative time in the kitchen, and I added in a couple of those plant based sausages, no meat, and was very happy with my resulting three meals.
The flatbread is to ensure nothing is left on the plate. This is originally an Ethiopian food, where bread sometimes acts as a plate, or to scoop up the food.
I'll soon need to make a new batch of berbere, the spice mix you need for this dish. It also uses plenty of ginger and garlic, with an onion base, and is definitely, as is a lot of Ethiopian food, a dish for spice lovers.
The other thing going on is a jigsaw puzzle. This is a Springbok a make I like because it has some weird and interesting shapes, beyond the usual peg and gap type puzzle pieces.
I finished The Plot, and it turned out to be about theft that was so much more profound than plagiarizing a plot idea, really good. It had shades of the old Christie short story In a Lordly Dish, which itself is a shade of an Old Testament story. Good provenance. I really recommend this writer, but in book form, so you can read at your own pace.
Speaking of doing things a bit differently, I fancy trying knitted or woven lettering, probably blanket square, this kind of thing, this one being from a lovely current knitalong mitten kit from Tatters, but the idea is ancient.
This one incorporates a poem, and I'm wondering if a tiny and powerful Basho poem might work. Anyway, we'll see (!)
Happy day, everyone, and I hope to hear soon from the people in the storm, which just brushed by us, not as severe as feared.
I have never thought of uttering thanks in that way. It's not a bad idea.
ReplyDeleteI like to do it. When my mom baked bread she transformed the cross you slash into the loaves to release steam, into the sign of the cross. She also used to say " God sends food, and the divil sends cooks!"
DeleteI like your definition of prayer.
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely not about being coopted by church based religion.
DeleteI love those mittens. It would be a wonderful to learn new spices.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you can incorporate a couple more into your own kitchen
DeleteBeing thankful adds value to one's life, I think. And I can't help noticing how a simple thank you does not seem to be a part of the current younger generations' vocabulary.
ReplyDeleteThe younger people around me are mostly African American and Indian, and they still observe the civilities. Maybe it's cultural.
DeleteYum yum. Time to cook our dinner now.
ReplyDeleteSeeing pictures of food does do that.
DeleteI need to remember to be mindful. Lately I have found meal prep a chore. You are making some good food.
ReplyDeleteI think if it starts to be a chore, it's good to consider a reset of some kind.
DeleteI know you said you weren't thinking in a religious sense, but when I practiced Zen our teacher always emphasized being mindful about all the effort of so many people that went into our food (and the other things we consume every day). I do think it's healthy to keep that in mind, but of course I routinely fail to do so. :)
ReplyDeleteYes, I believe in a simple acknowledgment of the supply chain, as we now know to call it!
DeleteWhat a good and newsy post!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you completely about prayer. I often think about the line in a song by the Doors which Jim Morrison shouted: "You CANNOT petition the Lord with prayer!" I was in high school then and had been taught that you could indeed petition the Lord with prayer although it had already become vastly apparent to me that it seemed to accomplish nothing. I suppose that was part of my path in becoming an atheist. But sending out a little bit of gratefulness is a completely different matter.
If prayer is thought of as asking a God you believe in for outcomes, I should think God is liable to say look at all the gifts I've showered on these ingrates, and they want more! I've spoiled them, is what I've done. So she says no to the petition. The prayers are answered, but with a refusal!
DeleteI'm jury's out on the whole God/no God question.
The American Indians would ask forgiveness and then thank the animal they killed for food. They never killed for sport. I believe it is important to always be thankful for our many blessings whether you are religious or not.
ReplyDeleteI taught my children to thank and appreciate not only the people who grew, processed or packed their food. But also the animals that have died so they may eat. It was especially important when we dispatched our own for the table.
ReplyDeleteI think this has taught them to not waste and to only take what they can eat. I see so many people pile up their plates and then throw out good food.
Probably why we don’t go out to eat as much. The servings are huge and it’s a terrible waste as you can’t always get a doggie bag
I lived as a kid through rationing that was close to starvation and to this day I can't bear wasted food. It's really a sin to me.
DeleteThose will be some interesting mittens. Looking forward to seeing them.
ReplyDeleteI'm not planning on making them, but I'm interested in the concept of knitting in words, like Sarah swetts woven words.
DeleteI like your gratitude and interesting food. It is so expensive I take pains to avoid waste.
ReplyDeleteYes. I think you would like this meal, too. All plant based with spices. and amazingly filling.
DeleteI love your mindful-thankfulnes. To someone who knows little about Buddhism, it sounds very Buddhist to me. So much more meaningful, to me, than thanking one god for everything.
ReplyDeleteI like to be thoughtful about the details of what comes to me, yes. Buddhist maybe.
DeleteInjera is the name of the bread in Ethiopia. I had looked forward to it before going there, but I have to say it tasted like ground cardboard! Not my favourite bread in the world!
ReplyDeleteMy whole wheat pita is a better choice then.
DeleteNice to remember to thank (or at least think about) the origin of our foods as we consume them.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine the snarled-up mess I would get into if I tried to knit letters. I hate carrying yarn and always end up being frustrated.
No love for floats? I have another idea now, I'll blog it soon.
DeleteIt's not the floats that gets me snarly (literally and figuratively!) - it's the balls of yarn that get tangled up.
Delete