there are many books i turn to in times when i need uplifting, peace, encouragement, or inspiration. one of these is Women in Praise of the Sacred: 43 Centuries of Spiritual Poetry by Women { edited by jane hirschfield }. i was raised Christian, and still consider my self so–though very far liberal/left-leaning, and find comfort/ solace/ understanding outside of the “traditional” church setting.
i want to share 2 VERY different poems, the authors separated by over 500 years, from totally differing faith traditions, yet both bring me such a sense of joy and peace.
awhile back, we had an epic day of food preservation. on that glorious day, we tackled 3 projects, two of which i’ll attempt to recall below { with pictures! }. the first, and by far the looooongest was making a giant—6 quart— batch of soup stock. at any given meal time, the spousal unit and i will save any vegetable scraps, peels, stems, etc. and put them in our freezer bag for future stock exploits, usually ending up with a good old fashioned vegetable stock. but this THIS was a special batch: we were making *duck* stock! we had picked up approx. a pound of duck bones from our awesome, ethical, locally-sourced butcher and got the ball rolling by roasting them in the oven.
<— there they are, all laid out on a cookie sheet. roasting the bones helps brings out the flavor and begins the softening process on the marrow inside, making the marrow easier to extract during the broth-ing { now a word } process. bone marrow stocks are super rich in flavour, and full of excellent nutrients! after about 20 minutes, they were good to go into the giant stock pot of doom, and were joined by the aforementioned veggie scraps { onion, carrot peel, broccoli stems, asparagus “butts”, and mushroom stems }, as well as fresh chunks of carrot & parsnips, a couple of cheese rinds for creaminess, a combo of fresh and dried herbs { thyme from our mini-herb garden, rosemary from the same, bay leaf, white peppercorns, szechuan peppercorns, applewood smoked salt and fresh sage }. here is what the simmering pot looked like —–>
after a LITERAL two days of simmering over a supper low heat, we strained out the desecrated duck carcass and all the remaining veggies and spices, let it all cool, and portioned it into both 3 cup and 2 cup amounts. those freezer baggies are now living happily in our freezer, awaiting future use!!!
the second project tackled were moroccan lemons { aka salt-preserved lemons }. these are super easy to make, are shelf-stable and make an excellent condiment to chicken dishes, or can be used in salted lemonade { which is waaaaay yummier than it sounds }. at its most basic, all that is needed are lemons and salt. we opted to use{ organic } meyer lemons because they are a little bit sweeter and more flavourful . first, parboil the lemons for a minute or two to help bring out the juiciness. then, we cut them into 8 wedges and started to jam them into a pre-sterilized jar { see previous post on how easy that is/ the importance of doing so }, layering the lemons with salt and the spices of our choice. to keep a more “moroccan” profile, we used a whole cinnamon stick, cloves, coriander, a bayleaf and a few green peppercorns, making sure to really squish out the juices of the lemons. the spousal unit is looking forward to trying them thinly sliced on pizza!
“Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves – slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future.”
Thich Nhat Hanh (via japanese-zen)
via jon via http://crscwldpt.tumblr.com/post/41523414595/drink-your-tea-slowly-and-reverently-as-if-it-is
real {whom i personally know}:
my mother. my aunt patty. liz dieleman {amazing doula, musican and artist}. natalie stoner {hands down one of the most incredible artists across mediums, and a beautiful soul}. jacks mcnamara {insightful, talented, grounding, activist}. the bloggess {i maintain i know her since i went to her reading, gave her a beer and she signed my book}.
real {whom i don’t personally know}:
madeline l’engle {gifted wirter, both fiction and non}. any uber-dedicated DIY blogger {of multiple genres- food, crafting, eco-conscious lifestyles- as long as they walk the talk}. amanda palmer {singer}. tori amos {singer}. fiona apple {singer}. neil gaiman {author}. zooey deschanel {for her quirkiness}. angelina jolie {for her portrayal of kick ass heroines and her humanitarian efforts}. wil wheaton {not only because my first crush was on wesley crusher, but more so for what a great geek culture representative he is}. nikola tesla {most awesome inventor of all time}. david bowie {as if he needs a reason}. joss wheadon {most creating so many inspirational characters}. cate blanchett {too amazing for words}. tilda swinton {same}. tofa borregaard {archaeologist, aka novelist gail carriger}.
fictional:
dana scully {the x-files, one of my pesonal heroines}. kara “starbuck” thrace {battlestar galactica, another personal heroine}. samantha carter {stargate:sg-1, etc.}. women of the buffy-verse {buffy, faith,& willow, mostly}. the women of firefly {kaylee, zoe, inara & river}. maid marion {specifically in the bbc’s “robinhood”}. amy pond {companion of the 11th doctor}. rory williams {aka mr. pond}. river song {their daughter and the doctor’s wife???}. deanna troi {counselor, ncc-1701-d}. dr. beverly crusher {also, st:tng}. jadzia dax {trill, scientist, ds9}. trinity {from “the matrix”}. galadriel {both as portrayed by cate blanchett, who can do know wrong, but as written by jrr tolkien}. eowyn {more so in the books than in the movies}. arwyn {only in the books, but mostly because liv tyler was a poor casting choice}. alexia tarabotti {heroine of the “parasol protectorate” novels by gail carriger}.
so, who inspires you? who is missing from this list?
stein {over-excited} 
