Letting Go and Following Through

 Pine Trees and Snow Drops

I originally wrote this for The New York Optimist and it never got posted, but I like it so I thought I'd share it here since I won't be submitting to the Optimist anymore. I want thank The Optimist for giving me the opportunity and wish it all the best!

This is two blogs in one which I began pre-2010...

***

Why is it so hard to let go of "Stuff?"

I had decided that, in the post travel doldrums, I would purge my apartment of all unneeded items. I was SO determined.

What actually happened was that, in my post Scotland funk, I laid around my apartment watching my Netflixed Remington Steele DVD and went online more times than strictly necessary. 

In my defense...I did get a mountain of clothes put away, as well as my luggage, and washed all the dishes that had accumulated in my sink.

In the end, I gave away a large box of DVDs, some books and a small bag of clothing.

One of the things I realize when traveling around with just a backpack and carry-on is how much "stuff" I have.  "Getting away from it all" also made me see how much unnecessary stuff I carry around on the inside.

Why are both are so hard to let go of?  When I was in Scotland, I felt as if I could let go of everything right then and there...so why is it so hard now to throw away a bunch of stuff I haven't used in years? And why is my head filling up with useless worries and stress now?

I'm going to have to think on this some more (or maybe that's the problem?)

In the meantime, I have decided that I will "purge in pieces".  Whenever I see something that has been hanging around for too long, I will get rid of it. I have come to the conclusion that I need to do this on the inside too, although I doubt it will be as easy as tossing stuff into a box.  The "post travel" me has reared her ugly head and all of a sudden I am finding that it's way too overwhelming to let go of everything at once, but because of the travel I'm finding that some letting go is necessary.


***

So letting go it what I did.

Bring on 2010!

I  finally got over my post travel funk and was lucky to have a whole week off between Christmas and New Year's.  I spent it finding the balance between getting stuff done and relaxing.

Since then I've been reveling in the quiet and taking the time to listen to my heart and soul and to realize that all is well.

I've been cooking, writing, baking, germinating plants, setting up an Etsy page and taking part in a free online creative dreaming workshop at abcreativity.com.  It's been amazing (as you all know)!

 

Green Goddess Rice

 Hand-Knit Yoga Mat Bag on My Etsy Page

Twitter has been fabulous during my self reflection.  I took the chance of reaching out to one of my Twitter friends based in Edinburgh and asked for advice about returning for an extended stay.  Through the magic of the retweet I instantly made some new Edinburgh-based twitter friends who had some answers! For all the drawbacks technology can have, moments like these remind me what a gift they can be. I was even asked to write an article for Edinburgh Spotlight about my love for the place.  It can be found here.

2010 has started out fresh and new...and I'm feeling very grateful.


XO

Pumpkinhead Ale Ice Cream

Last night I polished off quite a bit of this while watching Dr. Who :)

It came out with a very mild flavor...but I certainly don't hate it! The double chocolate stout ice cream I made for last year's Muppet Party...is still my favorite. It had a bit more body to it for the Winter. Mmm...Stout.

1 pint heavy cream
1 tin sweetened condensed milk
12 tablespoons Pumpkin Ale (I used Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale)


*You might want to add a little bit more beer when it's a lighter favor*

Make sure all ingredients are well chilled.

Whip cream with mixer until it stands up in peaks...then fold in condensed milk and beer. Pour into a container and put in freezer. No ice cream maker needed! Serve right from freezer...it will melt rather quickly.

Enjoy!

XO

Celebrating Myself

This week's Creative Dreaming task was to celebrate ourselves. Everything we are, and doing, to make our dreams come true.

I initially thought, "Let me invite some friends along so we can all celebrate ourselves..." but as soon as the invitation had gone out I thought better of it.  It made me realize how, in the past, I felt selfish or undeserving when praising myself. I would dilute any pride I had in my accomplishments by giving that power away to others. I would simply hand it over. Lately, my mind has been revisiting a lot of things and I've gained a lot of clarity.

I'm VERY proud of myself these days.

The group plans fell through...or maybe it was just how it was supposed to be. Instead, I indulged in something I haven't done in a while; I spent a quiet Friday night at home and treated myself to gyro and a new DVD. Yes! After a tiring week at work, I found a vendor near my office, bought Lamb Gyro over rice, and carried it on the subway back to Queens. Then I blissfully kicked back on the couch with a beer, my yoga toes, watched "Chaplin," and allowed myself to unwind properly.

Some things to celebrate: I finished writing my article for Edinburgh Spotlight (thanks for the help, Nerina!) and my Lemon-Sage popcorn was linked to in the Bliss Spa Blog, which was a nice little surprise (thanks again, Julie!)

It's been a good week.

I feel as if I'm always celebrating myself these days and it's about time! The best part is that I'm doing it consciously.  I'm using these times of quiet to regroup and really get to know myself.

XO

Lemon-Sage Popcorn

It seems to be snack week!

I try my hardest to make snacks I can bring into work (so I stay away from the Cheez-its and Dr. Pepper) and I've recently become obsessed with popping my own corn on the stove top.  It's fabulously old school :)

3 T organic popcorn kernels
1 T lemon infused olive oil
Ground  Sage
Ground Mustard Seed
Onion Powder
Sea Salt

Put corn and oil in a med-large sauce pan over medium-high heat and cover.

Now, you can season the popcorn one of two ways. Either add the spices in the very beginning or wait until after the corn is popped.  I found that if you put everything together from the get-go, the flavors infuse the popcorn more fully.

You might want to shake the pan once in a while to keep it from burning but I didn't really need to once I started using a good, heavy-bottomed pan. The first time I tried this in a cheap, and apparently thin bottomed, pan it caught fire.  So make sure you use a good pan!

Yields about 5 cups of delicious popcorn!

I love watching the corn pop through the clear lid of the pan.  There's something really vibrant and happy about it :)  And it produces this wonderful, light, savory snack with a bit of fruitiness to it.

It's great for a movie night!

XO

Enjoy!

Spicy Kale Chips!

These were like crack for me this weekend!

I had the idea to make them as an addition to another recipe...to crumble on top...and instead I devoured them like a starved animal.

They're ridiculously tasty.

1 bunch of kale, washed and thoroughly dried
Olive Oil
Sea Salt
Ground Cumin
Ground Cayenne
Chili Powder
Onion Powder
Lime Juice

Remove (full) stems from kale and break into bite sized pieces. Toss with a little olive oil, lime juice and remaining spices to taste. Put on a parchment covered cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes (until the edges of the kale pieces are brown).

YUM!

Next time I'm going to try these with Parmesan cheese, garlic and lemon juice!

Trying New Things...

 Homemade Soap :)

This week's assignment has been to try something new.

It seems as if that's what I've been doing for months now!  Since the new year began, I have put myself on a loose budget...mostly putting payments on my credit cards instead of buying shoes and clothes...and something that I never thought would make much of a difference...paying my bills when they come in (if I have the funds) instead of waiting for the due dates.  This way the money is gone so I can't make a million frivolous purchases during the week.  I also have been budgeting my grocery lists to last two weeks, give or take, and I cook a few meals that I can rotate until my next pay check.  This one can back-fire a bit if one of the meals doesn't quite do it for me...but all in all it's been working.  I paid off one credit card already!

This week I decided to try getting all ready for the day, the night before...including my shower.  Yeah, didn't care for it. I mean, I liked the showering at night because it was relaxing...but a morning shower helps wake and warm me up and relax my sore neck/back/shoulder muscles after sleeping on an inadequate mattress all night.  I also really don't like my hair after I sleep on it.  I'm a Leo, after all, our "manes" are very important to us!  Granted, I am in the process of growing out my hair and it's a bit awkward to begin with.  But I digress...

I do like getting my lunch together the night before.  I won't try laying out my clothes because I have no clue what I'll feel like wearing until the day arrives.

I didn't even make myself stick with it for the whole week...I did it for two nights and thought, "I really don't like this, so why keep doing it?"  It's a PM shower not a life or death situation! In the end, the whole experiment resulted in me playing with my time...opening it up and helping me have more of it to relax and be in the morning before heading back into the mayhem that is New York City.

This all goes along very well with where I'm at...trying what works and what doesn't and then promptly moving on instead of agonizing over my seeming lack of will-power or whatever nonsense I used to say to myself.

Instead I think, "Well, that wasn't for me...and that's okay."  Maybe the next thing will be.

XO

Hot Toddy Cookies!!!

I dreamed about it...and now they're a reality.

Hot Toddy cookies!

I apparently won't stop until I turn every cocktail into a cookie.  It all started when I found some awesome cookie recipes on, of all places, a vegan blog! It's called "Have Cake Will Travel..." and is beautifully done.

There I found such wonders as Whiskey, Tequila, and Double Chocolate Stout Cookies.

So I took (and tweaked) the base recipe...the alcoholic inspiration, and ran with it!  I also de-veganized them.

4 T Whiskey
1 T Lemon Juice
1 t Lemon Zest
3 T Golden Raisins
1/2 c Sugar
1 c all purpose flour
1/2 t Baking Powder
1/4 t Sea Salt
1/4 t Ground Cloves
2 t Cornstarch
3 T Canola Oil
3 T Milk

Soak raisins in the whiskey for at least an hour. I need to invest in some Bourbon for these, I think.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Combine dry ingredients and mix well.  Add whiskey/raisin mix and remaining wet ingredients...mix well. Drop onto a cookie sheet (I used a cookie scoop) covered with unbleached parchment paper and press (they wont spread out in the oven). Bake for 18 minutes.

Makes a little over a dozen cookies :)

*Next time I'm going to replace the sugar with honey and maybe try melted butter instead of canola oil.

XO