Previously I had tried to stick to "the first of the month" or "every Friday", but when I had my big revelation this summer that I wanted to return to my roots of aligning myself with the seasons, the moon cycle and other magical vibrations living here on Earth, I realized that it would be perfect to put it out on the full moon of every month! It will never fall on the same day of the week or month, so it will encourage going outside from time to time and checking in with the real weather and sky. Some of you may already be lined up with that because you grow things and are in touch with what's going on out there. That's good! During the full moon, our feelings and emotions are amplified, so I like to create a space in which to be still, breathe, focus, envision, dream, imagine, manifest and send blessings.
And it's cool that the Full Moon this month is so close to the Fall Equinox which has always had auspicious energy for me. It's that balancing point between the two strong seasons of summer and fall, of growth and decay, of light and darkness. For some reason the polarities feel strongest at this point than any other time of year, even in a place (Northern California) that at first glance doesn't seem to have much seasonal differentiation. Especially to a NE Coast transplant, it can be fairly non-dramatic. But I've come to feel that summer and fall could almost be called the fire and rainy seasons. And even that is changing as the weather patterns are changing almost everywhere.
I once used the Equinox to symbolize the marriage and the mirrors of male and female energy when I chose it as my wedding day (09-23-90) 23 years ago. The night before there was a fire on the hill behind our house and the morning of, it rained. Fire and Rain. Man and Woman. Kind of cosmic. The marriage didn't hold up, but the date is still an anniversary.
I also love it, because it's not snarled up with other Hallmark, religious or patriotic type holidays. It's just thrown in there between Labor Day and Halloween and has some breathing room of its own. That's partly why I think its a good moment to start something or end something or just be present to the wisdom around change. One could call it the dying or the darkening of the year, but the creativity that goes dormant for a while is full of promise and mystery. Even if nothing comes out at this time, something comes out of this time. I can't help but feel that I am planting seeds now that will sprout and come up in a season or two and I will ride on that anticipation throughout the dormant time in between.
So, I'm starting this blog, just to put down my thoughts of the day and the season. I'll probably get around to talking about what I'm doing with food since that's part of the overall theme. And I may report discoveries in the artistic realm as I find it essential to my evolution and overall sense of well being to go into the creative depths and return with the visions, the dreams, the mysteries, images, language and healing. I'll keep this as a log of my journey into wellness where I will attempt to create an intersection of all the means of expression that are available to me now.
It would be marvelous to hear back from the blogosphere if anything resonates or if you want to connect around any of the subjects I share here. Maybe not so much a conversation, but at least a landing place for our inspirations and journeys. We'll see where it goes.
Can I share a recipe?
Last month I was able to get ahold of kohlrabi, a vegetable that looks like a creature from outer space. Kind of full moon-ish, too. I had always shied away from it, I'm not sure why. It's in the cole family along with lots of other familiar edibles like broccoli, cabbage and kale, but I guess no one ever fixed it when I was growing up, even my veggie conscious German grandmother, so it slipped by. Anyway, I try everything now, so when it showed up at the market, I incorporated it in one of my demos and it was a big hit, just sliced up like an apple. And even though its just plain green, even the kids liked it. It was crisp-juicy, slightly sweet, not too "cabbage-y"and I would describe it as tasting like a cross between broccoli stems and apple. Nice! Here's what Yotam Ottolenghi say about it in his sumptuous cookbook, Plenty: "People always ask me what to do with kohlrabi, an often unwanted child in the organic vegetable box. It seems too healthful, too weird, too German!" He includes a recipe for a cabbage and kohlrabi salad, but I will include the recipe I came up with that is more of a slaw. Try it!
HARVEST MOON APPLE AND KOHLRABI SLAW
makes 6 - 8 cups
4 leaves of dino kale, cut into ribbons
4 small crisp apples, grated
1 small bulb fennel, shaved
1 small kohlrabi, peeled and grated
1/2 small green cabbage, cored and grated
1/2 small red cabbage, cored and grated
1 large carrot, grated
Dressing:
makes about 1 cup
1/2 C. unsweetened, unflavored yogurt
1/4 C. olive oil
juice and zest of 1 lemon juice
1 T. honey
1 T. poppy seeds
1 clove garlic, grated
1 tsp. toasted sesame oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
Prep and toss vegetables in a large bowl.
Whisk dressing ingredients together in medium bowl until well blended.
Pour dressing over vegetables and mix well. Salad will improve with a little time to marinate.
OK! This was fun! See you back here, soon, I promise.
