This One Goes Out To You Yulia

Retreat Moments

Introducing...The Damp

No, it's not a superhreo. Yes, it is a creature of the night...Slithering around when least expected. The sun's shining, and then before you know it, The Damp creeps up and in.

Before the damp arrives I do things that seem to make sense like wash dirty clothes by hand, then hang them on my clothesline. And then comes a small downpur. And now they're really wet. And then comes this: actually, i'm referring to the picture at the top with the crazy clouds. And then my clothes are REALLY wet. And so I put them in th drier for 45 min. But then somehow, they're still wet. And then they're hanging in my tent--still wet. And then it rains and rains and rains for days. And I'm afraid The Damp will never leave!

Sticks Crackle Black in the Night

Small animals scurry around the tent. Sweet purple milkweed vibrates bee buzz (as Keith and I sit amongst it). And the spiders and the ants, flies and mosquitoes, inch worms and moths. And the snails softly moving over leaves as in dance--heads slowly swaying. Mornings of fog.

Here, The Nights Are Cool

Awakening to the chatter of birds; woodpeckers pecking; an old Tibetan man chanting mantras, ringing a bell--here in the forest. Here in the mandala of His Holiness Penor RInpoche. Where brown rabbits hop, rainbow flags flutter, and tsong smoke wafts. Where I'm exhausted by people and talking at meals and retreat to the quiet of my tent on breaks. Where Keith reads and I write or nap. Here, my friends Min and Noelle offer drinks of gingerale and lime juice in their dorm room, Vietnamese sweets--as they tell me how they mix cayenne pepper into chocolate ice cream cause it's good for stomachs and lowering cholesterol. Here, small children sleep on red cushions in the temple, chase white bunnies and each other in the field. Yellow butterflies dart amidst milkweed. And still, anger flares.

Goodbye

Goodbye Mouse House
Goodbye Wig Man
Goodbye Baltimore with your gray skies and gloomy weather
Goodbye rats in the streets
Goodbye A/C
Goodbye Goodbye

Kalachakra 2007 USA

I had originally posted this video back in February when I first began this blog--but somehow ended up deleting it. It's a clip from 2007 when my teacher HH Penor Rinpoche gave the Kalachakra empowerment at our retreat center in upstate NY. I am so happy to be returning there for my eighth summer in just two days! Yay!

Sweet Relief

Finally! Everything is all packed and moved into storage!! Yay!

I Go In Spurts

I do. Sometimes cooking is the last thing I want to do--epsecially after getting home from work at night. And sometimes everything I make for weeks will be dreadful. But then...there are times when somehow I hit a string of wonderful recipes and everything I make is delicious! I love that--it's where I am this moment.

I think it's because I'm moving out of my house in three days. Headed first to retreat for a month, then to my parents or cousin's house for a few weeks, and then off to Asia...No kitchen of my own (at least an American one) for at least 14 months! And so suddenly I can't stop cooking--it's my last chance for so long.

And so there's been a dinner of rice and eggs and applewood smoked bacon, cornmeal cake with blackberry jam sauce from this recipe, and this morning's breakfast of delectable grits adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe.

Slab Bacon and Cheddar Cheese Broiled Grits

-cooked applewood smoked bacon (I used leftovers from the other night's dinner)

-2 cups milk

-1 cup grits

-salt and pepper

-1 3/4 cups grated sharp cheddar

-2 cups water

1) Combine milk and water in a pan. Cover and bring to boil.

2)Add grits and pinch of salt. Lower to medium. Cook, stirring constantly until grits thicken.

3)Reduce heat to low and simmer until thick, stirring every few minutes.

5)Add pinch of pepper (I didn't as I hate pepper!), crumbled bacon, 1 1/4 cups cheese and mix. Transfer to baking dish or skillet and broil till cheese is bubbly. Eat!

The Bittersweet/Final Day of Work/Granola Recipe

*The most amazing ice cream I've ever had in my life! Ariane's homemade honey and lavender. So deliciously creamy and the flavors oh so complex...

*The sharp smell of tomato plants as you accidentally brush against them while watering.

*Coconut roti with blackberry jam

*Thai iced tea

*Delicious granola. Here's the recipe (adapted from the Barefoot Contessa):

4 cups oats
2 cups shredded coconut (i use unsweetened but the original recipe recommends sweetened)
2 cups almonds (sliced or otherwise)
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup honey
dried fruit (i use whatever I have--this time I added a cup of apricots/cherries/blueberries)

Preheat oven to 350
Toss oats, coconut and almonds with honey and oil
Spread on baking sheet
Bake, stirring occasionally until golden brown
When golden mix in fruit

That's it!