the dreaming Press.

walk a path lit with violets & happy hearts; today's evening post

 
Our hearts are in a botanical space, lit up with violets & hummingbirds in a pale & lovely symmetry.  Singing with valour and glee they beat uptickingly to gather up armfuls of mossy trees...as lilacs perfuming our very air. 

These are our choices.  

Allowing for the prana flow, the wild climbing of vines, the shock-waves of love that pulsate chuggingly from our raspberry-hued engines, the clapping of hands and the breaking-it-down Charlie Brown's, & the walking amidst paths of our own making {the ones lit with violets & happy hearts} rather than some pale version of one forged previously for us.  

This day was lime marmalade on rye, margarita cake & rhubarb martinis.  What an organically imbued palette of gastronomy! Our friend and neighbour hollered over the fence, "Cake and martinis?" Well, duh! Of course! See you after we get home from the park.

Skipping back from sunwashed swingsets & 'neath a singing cicadan moonrise...our hands & fingers hammocked, intertwined as if lingering lakeside at a cottage midsummer afternoon. A familiar place.  A place where the happy hearts of family dwell. Kudos to my friend for the superb rhubarb martini.  Sheer perfection!

Hope you've made your own conscious choices.  {To do such a thing is a magnet for divine prosperity!}

Let there be light.

xoxo

 

It's Show Time!

All the world is a stage.

 

Colours, starry curtains, fir trees. 

Sensing a common theme here? The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.  This set was designed by a five year old girl.  My five year old girl, who loves the woods and colourful houses and starry curtains.

I love this old cereal box stage she created last week. I sit eagerly awaiting the big show. All I know is, it features a pig and a popsicle stick man.

I've got my drink,

 
a refreshing cola.

I've got my snack,

 
a wee bucket of popcorn.

I'll let you know how the show went.  Hopefully I'll return with rave reviews!

xoxo

anthologies of jazz, caramel brownies & giving thanks for many things~

 
Santiago de Cuba 1994-second largest city in Cuba discovered by conquistador Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar, in 1514~this is just one of many postcards I picked up on my trip to Cuba

It was Saturday night, and we were all dressed up with no where to go.  He in French cuffs with stylish cuff links, the girls in their pretty dresses-hair all done up and sprayed into place, jewellery on.  He laughed as he hung up the phone, "Girls, the party is next Saturday, I had it in my calendar wrong...." 

So I took us out for dinner and saved the evening.  No sense wasting being all dressed up, and there was no way I was going to start cooking something. 

Today is Thanksgiving, a day for cool walks, family visiting, turkey dinners and caramel brownies.  Yes...taking a tray of these  to the dinner at Julian's sisters house, freshly baked only minutes ago with Hershey's cocoa.  We substituted spelt flour and brown sugar, to give them an organic spin.  They smell delicious. I'm sure they have pumpkin pie and cheesecake already covered. We are also taking a hostess gift of an "Anthology of Jazz" CD collection.  Because everybody has enough wine already, right? 

So here is a toast to you! and all that you've given me, for YOU I'm entirely grateful.  I'm also thankful for mists on mountaintops, apples that crunch~! when you bite them, echoes in canyons, jazz in small Cuban clubs, tea in Jordanian cafes, friends that are only a phone call away, signs, and of course, my beautiful family whom I love so dearly they crack my heart open a little wider each day.

xoxo

Beet-root love.

Two large bunches of beets.

Remove stems, keep the verdant green leaves on top.

The juice of three freshly squeezed Meyer lemons.

A good dollop-half a cup or so of your best olive oil.

A pinch of coarse Mediterranean sea salts.

Four hundred degrees.

One hour.

Remove those skins when cool enough to handle, trim off the root end and the stem end, quarter.

Coarsely chop the green tops.

Toss in your favourite wooden salad bowl with the lemon/olive oil/sea salt dressing.

Four hundred degrees for five more minutes.

The best freshly roasted beets you'll ever eat.

xo

who would you cook for?

 A street in Amman, nice of the owners of this bird to put her outside on the fence, to see other birds flying free..I'm unsure if this is a kind gesture...or a torturous one? <March 2010>

Interesting list.

Who would you like to prepare a meal for?

My five;

• Herodotus
• Queen Hatshepsut
• Joan of Arc
• Stephen Hawking
• Earth, Wind and Fire---the entire ensemble

For those of you in Toronto this weekend, do not forget the most delicious food festival next to Summerlicious....Taste of the Danforth is happening.

xo

 

Mezze at Lebanese House

Welcome!...of course I have to take you out for lunch..won`t you join me....

Call whoever you need to now, before we start...you won't be getting up from the table until it's time to roll you out... 

I do hope you are hungry.  We are having a typical Middle Eastern meal called a 'mezze' or 'mezzeh'. 

Among the fresh olives, lemon mint drinks & grilled meats, we have hummus, tabouleh & roquette salad...

Of course there are plenty of fresh baked flat breads and things I can't pronounce or remember the names of.

 
 
Oh and just outside is a spectacular view...terraced farming is practiced by the Jordanians due to the many hills and mountains that make up the geography.

Just outside is a bevy of blooms...Jordan seems bursting at the seams with life and we were there to catch it all.

 

Should you happen to look up, you'll notice as I do the many lamps and lanterns the beautify Lebanese House. 

So sorry to distract you from your delicious mezze.  Please, enjoy some more food why don't you...there is plenty...

If you are a tried and true North American and simply can`t get through a meal without it, well....here is your Arabian ketchup.

  

When in Jerash, Jordan visit Lebanese House for the most delicious meal with a stunning view. Perhaps if you are lucky enough to join Ms.Tara Bradford on her next `Journey to Jordan` then you too will eat lunch at this famous restaurant.

Jordan, Jerash
Tel Fax: 00962-2-6351301

 

 

Follow your nose...dinner for six is served.

Today is the holiday of *love.*  {But love in my house is everyday.}  Every stinking day!! So lucky I suppose.  Are YOU lucky in love?  Do you love to love? What about that secret ingredient that goes into the tastiest meals....yes LOVE? Tasty, isn't it?

Well today I am meeting up with my husband and our two girls for a Japanese dinner but before we do, this is our lunch.  I actually made it to eat for tomorrow's lunch, but this chili will be lucky to survive the night in my house.  It is filling, healthy and very delicious.  Give it a try, it will become a favourite in your family too.

Part of loving someone is feeding them well, to the best of your ability.  Making healthy choices where possible.  Nurture yourself, by preparing lean protein & high fiber meals.  Your body will thank you.  Then your husband's body will thank you ;)

Drawing a winner soon through the Random Number generator for the One World One Heart prize.  The prize I'll shop for in about two weeks.  Good luck to those who entered and thank you for reading my blog!

So that you can all be winners, I've posted the recipe for the chili.  Because things are only good when you share.  I wouldn't dream of keeping this to myself, that would be so selfish, yes??? xo

Vegetarian Chili-Serves Six

Ingredients;

2 tbsp cumin seeds (Toast them in a pan over medium heat until you can smell them, then remove and set aside.)

2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

1 large red bell pepper, chopped

1 large carrot, peeled and grated

1 head roasted garlic (I used 2 cloves chopped garlic, turned out fine)

3 tbsp chili powder

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (I like my chili hot so I used double this amount)

sea salt & freshly ground pepper

1 cup canned white kidney beans (for all the beans please rinse and drain)

1 cup canned great Northern beans

1 cup canned red kidney beans

1 cup canned black beans

1 cup corn kernels (canned is fine, fresh is better)

2 1/2 cups low sodium vegetable stock or water (I used veggie stock, yum)

2 tsp dried oregano

2 tsp dried basil

4 squares of 75% or higher organic chocolate

28 oz (the big one) can of tomatoes

Juice of one fresh lemon and one fresh lime

Prepare;

1. In a large saucepan, very large, warm olive oil over medium heat and add the onion, carrot & red pepper...stir until onion is transparent.  Stir in chili powder, cumin and sea salt & pepper, and the red pepper flakes.  Cook ten minutes covered, stir occasionally.

2. Add everything else.  Blend well, cover, and cook on simmer for 20 minutes.  Done! Eat it! With brown rice or whole grain rolls.  You will LOVE this chili xo

From my favourite cookbook and lifestyle bible....:)

Can you drink cabernet merlot with fish?

A balcony spotted while walking through SoHo, NYC last June

.

Of course you can! Providing they like that sort of thing.  LOL! Some fish don't drink after all. But seriously, we are heading over to our lovely neighbours for dinner, and I understand they will be serving fish.  Sooooo I am making a baked brie with figs (thanks Tracey! couldn't do red pepper jelly, my kids are eating too!) and a smoked oyster log.  You heard me right!  I used a popular social networking site to ask my friend, chef extraordinaire Tracey~ for what I might make to take to my neighbours this evening.  She responded in a timely fashion, probably because she too loves food and knows the value of contributing a tasty and well received appetizer!!!!

So, not thinking I nipped out to grab a bottle of wine as well, and just got caught up in the excitement of the taste test! They were taste testing the cab merlot so since I thought it tasted nice, Bob's your uncle.

Now, if you were serving fish, what would you drink with it?  I wonder what the people who live in the above apartment would serve?  If you want the recipes, e-mail me as usual.  You know the drill.  Happy weekend!! xo
 

Keeping secrets & other current events.

I am making a white bean chili, with chicken.  It smells of coriander and garlic in here. Shhh, don't say anything, it's for my sister-in-law who broke her leg.  Oh yes, the soccer star that she is went in full-kick and snapped one of her twigs.  So since she is laid up, I thought I'd nip over there tonight with this small yet clean-eating meal. 

The photo above depicts a my little ones dinner...mac and cheese.  Tonight I ate an avocado mixed with a tin of thai chili tuna.  She doesn't like that! So hence her choice.  Hey, I support her choices.  She eats a lot of fruit. :)

This week I was surprised by two of my favourite blogging friends, Vanessa & Tara.  Both sweet ladies sent me gorgeous packages to open full of surprises.  Thank you ladies!!!

Tara is in London this week, the lucky gal.  An email today informed me that there are still a couple of spots available for people to join us in Jordan.  Why not sign up for this trip of a lifetime?  Go check out the website here to read all about it.  I mean really, a week in Jordan with some blog friends...what could be sweeter?

I love the saying...Friday's dream on Saturday told, always comes true no matter how old.  Have you heard that before?  Whenever I had a weird dream on a Friday, my mother would put her finger to her lips and whisper, "Shhh, don't tell me.  Then it can't come true." Well last night I had a doozy! But I won't share it.  Just know that it was weird.  I dream a lot lately.  Lots on my mind I suppose. 

I'll leave you now.  I have some pictures to hang, and I'm going to finish off the chili.

Have a wonderful weekend..I'm happy that tomorrow is Sunday, because Sunday always brings the greatest treasures. ox

Warm-from-the-oven goodness :)

Last week there was a tap at the door.  There stood my neighbour, M, with her super lovely daughter A holding her tiny tot lovelies (two of them to be exact, dimples a-shining!)- holding a plate with four glimmering, sweet warm-from-the-oven, streusel topped wild blueberry home-baked muffins.

I gasped! M was returning plates from a tiny batch of samosas I had delivered to their door one night...and in her opposite hand, the muffins.

I ate two.  Yes, there are four, count that FOUR people in my family.  Cough...

Julian ate one.

One sat.

And sat.

Til the evening!  

Taunting me each time I walked into the kitchen.  There, on the table.  On M's designer white plate.  The wild blueberry gorgeousness, with sweet streusel topping...beaming at me like an angel.  "Eat me," it beckoned.

"No," replied my hips, calmly. 

Sneering, the muffin taunts, "Well, that cup of tea is pretty boring without ME."

Turning, holding back a tear, I whispered silently yet firmly, "Evil muffin, you who are so tasty and caloric, be gone! You are left for one of the children or both of them to split so stop teasing me it will get you nowhere!!!"

Looking rather forlorn and disgruntled, the muffin stopped.  It sat for a few more hours.  Each time it spied me it raised a sweet eyebrow of hopefulness. Hmmpph.

Later, I returned to the kitchen to see a plate of crumbs.  Ah, someone had succumbed, but not me. I couldn't help my schadenfreude.  {I was secretly happy that muffin bit the dust.}  That delicious, home-baked wild blueberry streusel- topped EVIL thing. 

When M returns home from her weekend I shall return her plate.  Between us, she'll never know how those muffins came to their end. ;D