I know I have been neglecting this blog quite a bit lately. Well, now I am in Queens, N.Y. visiting friends from Tibet, while also receiving a visit from a friend from Paris. There is nothing like Tibetan hospitality. We arrived in a snowstorm 2 nights ago to a beautiful spread of Hoko...the Tibetan version of Vietnamese Pho.
The past few days have included a stroll along 5th Ave. to see the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center and the festive window displays at Sax Fifth Avenue, a visit to St. Patrick's Cathedral (This was my 12 year old Tibetan niece's first time in a church. After looking around a bit, she said matter-of-factly, "I guess Jesus must really be important to these guys." Hahaha...She also really liked trying out the holy water. As she was testing it out with her finger tips, she said, "It would be really cool if they told people this was Jesus's tears." Good times.), a trip to the movies (treated by a Brazilian guy we met in the subway who spent the day sightseeing with us), a night at the Metropolitan Opera (my first...finally! We saw a Puccini Opera about the California Gold Rush...it was bizarre to see Opera singers dress like cowboys and cowgirls and sing to each other in Italian with names like "Nick, Dick, Mr. Johnson and Minnie), and an evening at Carnegie Hall (also my first) to hear the NY Philharmonic Orchestra.
The night we arrived here, NYC received the 6th biggest snowstorm of its history...so we got to witness the madness of the Big Apple covered in piles of snow...cars stuck on every side street, snow banks several feet high along the sidewalks, and millions of New Yorkers out sloshing around in it!
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Friday, December 24, 2010
Merry Christmas
I am in the Catskill mountains, enjoying the eve of Christmas with snow falling, warmth indoors, and the recent memory of eating home-made cookies and eggnog. Time for some sleep! But first, I want to share my favorite Christmas Poem:
Merry Christmas from the Mountains
From the scented pines in white
From the flame and lemon sunset
From the Yule Log's crackled light
Merry Christmas from the rivers
Running free and swift and clear
Merry Christmas from the meadows
Streaked with silent running deer
Christmas Eve is hushed and holy
With its message time-undimmed
From the vast and candled skies
Come Christmas wishes on the wind:
May the mountains own Great Spirit
make your life a singing stream
May the twelve new moons now coming
Bring a purpose to your dreams
May a rainbow touch your shoulder
With a promise in its glow
May your moccasins leave hints
Of happy tracks in many snows.
-Virgina Covey-Boswell
Merry Christmas from the Mountains
From the scented pines in white
From the flame and lemon sunset
From the Yule Log's crackled light
Merry Christmas from the rivers
Running free and swift and clear
Merry Christmas from the meadows
Streaked with silent running deer
Christmas Eve is hushed and holy
With its message time-undimmed
From the vast and candled skies
Come Christmas wishes on the wind:
May the mountains own Great Spirit
make your life a singing stream
May the twelve new moons now coming
Bring a purpose to your dreams
May a rainbow touch your shoulder
With a promise in its glow
May your moccasins leave hints
Of happy tracks in many snows.
-Virgina Covey-Boswell
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Moroccan Lamb Stew
Last night, by borrowing from various recipes online I created a delicious and easy recipe for Moroccan Lamb Stew. I made a similar recipe for my summer campers last summer, when we had a day of Moroccan culture and I served them a five-course meal under a large, white tent outdoors. We carried blankets, tablecloths and cushions outside and lounged luxuriously as we ate with our fingers. It was delicious in the hot weather, especially if spicy, but I think it makes a very cozy meal in midst of winter...reminiscent of the part of the world where many of our traditional stories originate. Since this is meant to be a blog about food, among other things, I want to share this mouth watering recipe with you:
Ingredients:
Spices:
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
a pinch of cayenne pepper (add more if you like a kick)
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp ground ginger
1 & 1/2 tsp of ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried mint leaves
1 & 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 large onion, chopped
4 Tbsp olive oil
2 lbs organic cubed lamb stew meat
1 &1/2 cup organic chicken broth
1 chopped green bell pepper
3 chopped carrots
1 can chickpeas , rinsed and drained
Juice of 1 large orange (or a splash of orange juice)
3/4 cup quartered, dried apricots
1 & 1/2 Tbsp honey
Directions:
In a cast iron pot, sautee the onion in olive oil over med. heat till golden brown. In a separate bowl, combine the spices. Lower heat and add to onions after they are golden brown, stirring constantly. Add lamb meat and brown gently in pan, stirring constantly. Raise heat to med.
Once lamb is browned softly on all sides, add the chicken broth, green pepper and carrots. Bring to boil, then simmer for 45 min.-1 hour with lid half on.
Add chickpeas, orange juice, apricots and honey and simmer for 15 min. more.
Serve with fresh couscous cooked in boiled, diluted orange juice. You can add nuts and dried fruits to your couscous as you like.
Ingredients:
Spices:
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
a pinch of cayenne pepper (add more if you like a kick)
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp ground ginger
1 & 1/2 tsp of ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried mint leaves
1 & 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 large onion, chopped
4 Tbsp olive oil
2 lbs organic cubed lamb stew meat
1 &1/2 cup organic chicken broth
1 chopped green bell pepper
3 chopped carrots
1 can chickpeas , rinsed and drained
Juice of 1 large orange (or a splash of orange juice)
3/4 cup quartered, dried apricots
1 & 1/2 Tbsp honey
Directions:
In a cast iron pot, sautee the onion in olive oil over med. heat till golden brown. In a separate bowl, combine the spices. Lower heat and add to onions after they are golden brown, stirring constantly. Add lamb meat and brown gently in pan, stirring constantly. Raise heat to med.
Once lamb is browned softly on all sides, add the chicken broth, green pepper and carrots. Bring to boil, then simmer for 45 min.-1 hour with lid half on.
Add chickpeas, orange juice, apricots and honey and simmer for 15 min. more.
Serve with fresh couscous cooked in boiled, diluted orange juice. You can add nuts and dried fruits to your couscous as you like.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Where I Am
It has taken a solitary Sat. night with no plans and a sense of loneliness creeping in to sit down and write. I haven't felt this way in awhile. Maybe not since Thanksgiving. Leave it to the holidays to somehow make us question just how much those we love most and most want to connect with can understand and connect with us.
Today, a close friend of mine who has been a sworn bachelor for all the years I've known him, announced casually that he is getting married in a month or two. While I am happy for him and so far really like his future wife, I feel a bit lost with this news. It stirs an emptiness in me and raises the uncomfortable question...why don't I have this love in my life? Why doesn't anyone feel this way about me? Why don't I have what he has?
It's been a year of being single and while mostly I feel grateful and liberated in my freedom and independence...lately I feel that strong pull for connection surfacing within and it both illuminates me and terrifies me, in turns.
This time last year, I was in Southern Spain...experiencing Flamenco culture, entering the first of many phases of intense heartbreak, making new friends in the foreign lands of Granada, Sevilla, Madrid, Cordoba, Cadiz, El Puerta de Santa Maria, Jerez and learning how the Andalucians celebrate Christmas. While it was a powerful time of falling in love with a new dance form, I can also say it was one of the loneliest times I have experienced. For those who have traveled to distant lands solo when feeling empty and heartsick, you know what I mean. It can be both a comfort and a sense of banishment all at once. I was so lonely, that I remember soothing myself with the thought, "At least I am feeling this loneliness in a foreign place, rather than in my familiar environment". The one thing worse than feeling a stranger in a strange land is to feel a stranger in your own home. That is the worst of all.
Well, enough of all this sad talk! How did I get on this dark topic? Hmmm...just reminiscing, I suppose. I don't know that I ever wrote these thoughts or feelings down.
Well, here I am in Boulder Colorado. I have been here exactly a week. I have been catching up with friends, processing my recent experiences in Europe, visiting my favorite coffee shops, and trying to figure out what direction to set my sail this winter. What do I want to focus on? The answer every time I ask this question is "DANCE". I want to study dance, but where? After a year long search for a Flamenco teacher, this mysterious art form is still elusive in my life. My second choice is Indian dance. And so, a trip to India seems like it might be approaching...
Today, a close friend of mine who has been a sworn bachelor for all the years I've known him, announced casually that he is getting married in a month or two. While I am happy for him and so far really like his future wife, I feel a bit lost with this news. It stirs an emptiness in me and raises the uncomfortable question...why don't I have this love in my life? Why doesn't anyone feel this way about me? Why don't I have what he has?
It's been a year of being single and while mostly I feel grateful and liberated in my freedom and independence...lately I feel that strong pull for connection surfacing within and it both illuminates me and terrifies me, in turns.
This time last year, I was in Southern Spain...experiencing Flamenco culture, entering the first of many phases of intense heartbreak, making new friends in the foreign lands of Granada, Sevilla, Madrid, Cordoba, Cadiz, El Puerta de Santa Maria, Jerez and learning how the Andalucians celebrate Christmas. While it was a powerful time of falling in love with a new dance form, I can also say it was one of the loneliest times I have experienced. For those who have traveled to distant lands solo when feeling empty and heartsick, you know what I mean. It can be both a comfort and a sense of banishment all at once. I was so lonely, that I remember soothing myself with the thought, "At least I am feeling this loneliness in a foreign place, rather than in my familiar environment". The one thing worse than feeling a stranger in a strange land is to feel a stranger in your own home. That is the worst of all.
Well, enough of all this sad talk! How did I get on this dark topic? Hmmm...just reminiscing, I suppose. I don't know that I ever wrote these thoughts or feelings down.
Well, here I am in Boulder Colorado. I have been here exactly a week. I have been catching up with friends, processing my recent experiences in Europe, visiting my favorite coffee shops, and trying to figure out what direction to set my sail this winter. What do I want to focus on? The answer every time I ask this question is "DANCE". I want to study dance, but where? After a year long search for a Flamenco teacher, this mysterious art form is still elusive in my life. My second choice is Indian dance. And so, a trip to India seems like it might be approaching...
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