Dear World

Dear World, Cosmos, God, Gods, Budda, Powers that be or Big Fat Nothing,

I need a break from the endless shit storm and fireballs you so kindly send me to keep me on my toes.

Otherwise I quit.

-c

I have forgotten everything...
See the pile of rubble?

The fragments of pictures...

I thought I knew....but not till now have I come to know what I have lost.

Randoms and Performance!!!

"You may find that you are attracting people to you like moths to flame. You have an opportunity to make new friends, form new associations, and you can take a leadership role in a group, association or club..."

Hola! I'll be dancing on Saturday! come check it out!

A contemporary dance performance to "Hello Dali," an original composition by A. Paul Johnson of the Apollo Project After three solid season concerts at the Historic Asolo Theatre and an artistically busy year, Fuzión Dance Artists has been invited to collaborate with A. Paul Johnson and the Salvador Dalí Museum. This will be the first time that all three organization have partnered up to bring music, dance, and visual art to life in one space. The performance will take place in the back of the museum in a small intimate space where the dance artists will transform the performance space into a multi-media experience with projections, lights, costume, props, and to the sounds of A. Paul Johnson. A. Paul Johnson's original score is inspired by 11 Dalí's paintings which the dance artists have been studying and using as inspiration for the "Hello Dalí" performance.Saturday June 27, 7:30PM AND Sunday June 28, 2:00PMSalvador Dalí Museum1000 Third Street South, St. Petersburg, FL 33764http://www.salvadordalimuseum.org/Tickets $15 adults, $10 students, For reservations please call (941) 345-5755

*** Museum opens an hour prior to performance as part of the event.....Audience members will be encouraged to visit the museum an hour prior to the show to familiarize themselves with Dalí's work and life story***

The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

The Invitation

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon...
I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me 
is true.
I want to know if you can 
disappoint another 
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life 
from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”

It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone 
with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moments.

Palm sugar!!!

Ok so...I found this cool new product. COCONUT PALM SUGAR!!!

Which in case you don't know is....

Coconut Palm Sugar (nam tan bpeep in Thai, arenga spp, or jaggery in India) is a coarse brown sugar with a distinct caramel flavor and is less cloyingly sweet then cane sugar. Originally made from the sap of the palmyra palm (borassus flabellifera), it is now generally made from the sap of coconut palms. The juice from the sap is collected and boiled in water until the water evaporates and the sugar crystallizes. This coconut sugar is lighter and milder in taste then palm sugar. Its intense caramel-like flavor is an integral part of the Thai taste profile, certainly, worth the effort to find and buy it. The darker color and stickier sugar are preferred.
Also palm sugar can be added to herbal teas to treat sore throat, colds, and congestion.

COOL FACTS !!!!!!!!

Palm sugar is just 10 calories per tablespoon and 3 grams of sugar

VERSES

Regular Sugar which is 46 calories per tablespoon and 12-15grams of sugar

Honey is 64 calories per tablespoon and 17 grams of sugar

The ever popular Raw light Agave Nectar is at 60 calories and 15 grams

Soooo.... Palm sugar wins out for me as a sweetener that is natural, low sugar, low calorie and freaking awesome in nonfat Greek yogurt!

It also as medicinal uses...

It has the power to liquefy phlegm from the lungs. It is also profusely used in treatment of sore throat when dissolved in boiled concentrated milk. Musicians use it on a regular basis in combination with other medicinal spices and herbs.

The Taste:

Mild brown sugar like with a light coffee hint.

WHERE TO GET IT AND THE ONE I USED:

Any Whole foods or Organic market. You can order it online as well.

I found mine at Whole Foods in the Thai section....

Coconut Palm Sugar Jaggery

By Thai Taste

Things that kinda suck about it:

The packaging. It comes in a cute round container but inside it is sealed in a plastic bag. So when you open it, it is best if you dump it in it's round container and be prepared to get sticky, because it is in it's wet gooey form. You also have to keep this version in the fridge.

All in all Coconut Palm Sugar equals yum! However don't confuse it with straight up coconut sugar...they are not the same.

All for now...

xo

First wave of summer recipes!

Hi! Ok so...here we go...please note that when I cook I don't really measure, I just eyeball it...feel free to do the same or use the measurements I have provided.

DETOX SALAD

2 bundles of dandelion greens (washed and chopped) (cut off the the thick end stems)

aprox 5 celery stalks chopped (it's about a cup full)

4 cups or one bag or box of baby arugula

10 mini carrots(chopped finely or put them in your mini processor)

2 Belgian endive (chopped and remove the the thick end at the base)

1/2 a cup of chopped parsley (any type I prefer flat)

3 table spoons of tarragon chopped

***you can chopped the carrots and parsley and tarragon at the same time in the processor

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix

makes about 5-6 servings and keeps for a while :) Just cover it.

This salad has got a bitter bite...so here are some of my fave add ins and combo with the base salad and great to have on hand.

Combo 1

Red seedless grapes 5-10 per serving

Goat cheese crumbles 2 tbs

dries cranberries 2 tbs

red onion 1/2 of a slice chopped

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Combo 2

4 dates chopped

fat free feta cheese 2 tbs or goat cheese

1 Gluten free turkey apple sausage (Bellinskis brand is best has a bee on it ) (or whatever low fat type you like)(**keep the fat content under 4 grams)

Red onion 1/2 of a slice chopped

Dried Cranberries 1 tbs

*****************************

Combo 3 The straight up detox

3-4 table spoons of avocado (guacamole)(see recipe below)

4-6 raw nuts chopped ( note the nuts must be raw no honey roasted and they can be any type...almonds, cashews, pecans)

5 pieces of boiled sweet potato

**************************

Feel free to add a low fat protein to combo one or 3 tbs of Guacamole

THE DRESSING

THE STRAIGHT UP DETOX DRESSING

1/2 a cup of lemon juice (fresh)

1/2 cup of olive oil

a dash of cayenne pepper

2 tsp of minced garlic

mix it up and add just enough to lightly coat the leaves

My Dressing

1/2 cup of blueberry pomegranate infused rice wine vinegar (Brand Pompeian)

1tbs of raw agave nectar

2 tbs of honey mustard ( i use only stuff that has like 3-4 ingredients...Emeril's smooth honey is my fave)

a small pinch of cayenne pepper

Shake it mix it whatever...

GUACAMOLE FOR SALADS

1-2 Haas avocados

2 pinches of sea salt

1/4 lime squeezed

a dash of cayenne pepper

smash away but leave it a little chunky

GUACAMOLE DIP

2-3 Haas avocados sliced and pitted

1 slice of a red onion finely chopped

1 medium tomato chopped

1/4 of a lime squeezed on top

1 tsp of garlic

4 dashes of chipotle hot sauce

3 dashes of Jane's all Mixed up spice or just plain salt to taste

combine all the ingredients and smash away

**************************************************************

SOME FUN FACTS

WHAT THE HECK IS GLUTEN????

Gluten is a mixture of proteins found in some cereals, particularly wheat. It is the gliadin component of gluten which is responsible for coeliac disease. A gluten-free diet is not the same as a wheat-free diet, and some gluten-free foods are not wheat free. Despite a good deal of research, it is unknown how or exactly why gluten harms the gut. It is now considered likely that coeliac disease involves an abnormal immunologic response, rather than an enzyme deficiency as was suggested in the past.
The Vegetarian Society believes that a gluten-free diet is compatible with vegetarianism. Some doctors and The Coeliac Society advise against a vegetarian or vegan diet for coeliacs because they believe it may make your diet too complicated and this could mean it is difficult to comply with. There are no known medical or nutritional reasons why you should not be a vegetarian or vegan coeliac, although the gluten-free aspects of your diet must be the priority for your own health and well-being.

OK all for now...

be well... eat well...play outside.

...

Suddenly the drunken sweetheart appeared out of my door.
She drank a cup of ruby wine and sat by my side.
Seeing and holding the lockets of her hair
My face became all eyes, and my eyes all hands.

-shiva

I died from minerality and became vegetable;
And From vegetativeness I died and became animal.
I died from animality and became man.
Then why fear disappearance through death?
Next time I shall die
Bringing forth wings and feathers like angels;
After that, soaring higher than angels -
What you cannot imagine,
I shall be that.

-rumi