bindifry's itty bitty brain basket

make fashion, not war

ljhill11@yahoo.com (bindifry) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:07:00 +0000

i have used foam toe stretchers for years. they go between your toes & seperate them, giving you the feeling of a mild full body massage. they also widen your feet from years of squashing them into shoes such as these guns & ammo boots courtesy of a new japanese fashion blog i have recently found- sensible obsessions .

i also frequent the finest online japanese store j-list . today in my inbox were these

FUWAPPA ~ Magic Diet Room Sandals for Beautiful Legs & Hip

these take the toe stretchers to a new level.

"One thing you'll notice about Japanese models are their slim shapely legs. Of course with proper diet and exercise, you'll be able to get these legs too. But who has time to go to the gym? Now with these Fuwappa sandals, you can give your legs and buttocks (which is interestingly referred to as "hips" in Japan) a great daily workout without the gym membership. These sandals are intentionally cut short, leaving the heel end open so it forces you to use those calf muscles to keep your body steady. Use while doing chores, cooking, or whenever you feel like it. Soon, those legs will be shapely and sexy, bringing you loads of attention, even while you're not trying."

i simply MUST have them.

with a side of guns and ammo boots plz

bulla ki jaana maen kaun

ljhill11@yahoo.com (bindifry) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:14:00 +0000

this has always been one of my favorite videos. it was overplayed in india about 2005. i only recently found it on youtube & the lovely translation of the lyrics. i never tire of watching it. i hope you enjoy it. it shows off mumbai like no one else can.

Bulla, ki jaana maen kaun

Bulleh! to me, I am not known
Not a believer inside the mosque, am I
Nor a pagan disciple of false rites
Not the pure amongst the impure
Neither Moses, nor the Pharoh

Bulleh! to me, I am not known

Not in the holy Vedas, am I
Nor in opium, neither in wine
Not in the drunkard`s craze
Niether awake, nor in a sleeping daze

Bulleh! to me, I am not known

In happiness nor in sorrow, am I
Neither clean, nor a filthy mire
Not from water, nor from earth
Neither fire, nor from air, is my birth

Bulleh! to me, I am not known

Not an Arab, nor Lahori
Neither Hindi, nor Nagauri
Hindu, Turk (Muslim), nor Peshawari
Nor do I live in Nadaun

Bulleh! to me, I am not known

Secrets of religion, I have not known
From Adam and Eve, I am not born
I am not the name I assume
Not in stillness, nor on the move

Bulleh! to me, I am not known

I am the first, I am the last
None other, have I ever known
I am the wisest of them all
Bulleh! do I stand alone?

Bulleh! to me, I am not known

"Bulla ki jaana" - orginally sung by
bulleh shah
new rendition by rabbi shergill

will yoga help me lose weight?

ljhill11@yahoo.com (bindifry) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:55:00 +0000

a question i get a lot when teaching is

"will yoga help me lose weight?"

i tell them if it were true, i would be the size of a blade of grass. but i'm not. i'm on the burly side. what i tell them is this.

"it will help you be happy with the way you are right now."

that's a very true statement, and dangerous. cause us burly types/non-skinny yoga peeps/or if you like-fat yoga peeps actually feel like we are much smaller than we are. it's deceiving, really. i feel like i have 12 pack abs. and i do, only it's buried underneath a few inches of cush. what are you gonna do?

i'm SO sick and tired of wanting to be something that i'm not. the biggest challenge to many women (probably some men too) is being happy in the skin you are in. being happy "now."

the rest will take care of itself. it is a myth that you have to be a raw vegan who weighs less than 100 lbs to do yoga. nor do you have to be a svelt yoga teacher. (if you have been reading this blog for a year you will remember my thai students asking me why i am fat) i actually think some students feel more comfortable with a teacher who is less than perfect. i'm not saying it's not good to be thin, i'm just saying that so much stress, pain & self-loathing comes from wanting so much to look better than we are right now. the battle starts in puberty. how many of you ladies out there have taken diet pills or done some kind of "speed" to achieve a more posh-spice figure?

be honest now. and how many of you have NEVER been happy with your physique?

if the students who are doing yoga to lose weight stick around long enough, they begin to carry themselves totally different. they don't lose any weight, but they move "lighter." i see it all the time. and they become more confident. that confidence can be a spring board to achieving success. and if success to you is losing weight, good for you. of course i've seen women take this too far & starve themselves in addition to doubling up yoga practices. what happens is they lose strength & fall apart. it's not a pretty sight. in india i had a match thin girl faint right on my mat in the middle of surya namaskar b. i've met people who won't eat bananas for fear of gaining weight. and i wonder. what is yoga doing to these people?

yoga can ground you or it can sprout wings on you. do you want to be on this earth or above it?
yoga is healing or poisonous. it's up to you.

perfect balance

ljhill11@yahoo.com (bindifry) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 01:59:00 +0000

A Manual for Students, Teachers, and Practitioners.

this is a bible for anatomy & it's scientific clarifications in hatha yoga. no teacher should be without it. and it weighs about 20 pounds for some reason. same as a manduka black mat.

the skeleton is fascinating & yoga is magic for the bones. this book is just ridiculous. i have become increasingly fascinated with fundamentals-"basic" standing postures. after 13 years i feel like i'm just starting to understand them. maybe it's because that's really all i teach now. its also a huge part of my private practice. it's just so damn interesting. so i pulled this heavy bad boy off the shelf-nestled next to 10+ram dass books. love him.

if you have this, go back. read again. try to understand. it's really unbelievable. hatha does not really mean sun & moon. it kind of means right & left in sanskrit. as in left side & right side of the body .
as in

perfect balance.

"why do you never find anything written about that idiosyncratic thought you advert to, about your fascination with something no one else understands? because it is up to you. there is something you find interesting. for a reason hard to explain. it is hard to explain because you have never read it on any page; there you begin. you were made and set here to give voice to this, your own astonishment-annie dillard, in "the writing life""

the preface to the book.

indeed.

buy it now.

anatomy of hatha yoga

delicious silence

ljhill11@yahoo.com (bindifry) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:57:00 +0000

i was speaking with a type "A" (she labeled herself this) student. the corporation i teach for has a couple kinds of yoga. one is anusara. the other is astanga.
she said she likes to do both styles. but because of her busy life, a lawyer with 4 kids one year apart, she does half her yoga at home. she chooses astanga. why?

because astanga is the only system that gives you a practice that is portable. you always know what to do. "eka, dwi, trini,..." you never have to get up, look online or at yoga schedules, dish out the $17 & attend a class. and panic when you can't find a class that suits your needs for the day.

how liberating.

some people believe this system is not creative enough. i say meh to you. creativity in life is the result of daily practice. i do not believe it belongs in the yoga.

why do some teachers lose their minds when the stereo breaks? one studio i taught in years back insisted on keeping the stereo next to siva on the holy alter. that used to bother me quite a bit.

when did music become an element of yoga class? why can't some teachers teach without it? what is wrong with delicious silence? there are numerous "teacher trainings" that actually give classes in "yoga playlists."
how nauseating. don't people just want peace and quiet 60-90 minutes a day? i am trying to be open minded, but every time i use music, i find it extremely distracting. and no matter what music you choose you will not delight everybody. especially if you have eclectic tastes. i wonder how many teachers are teaching their students how to focus on the breath instead of demonstrating how creative their playlist is.

mother nature is the true artist

ljhill11@yahoo.com (bindifry) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 20:58:00 +0000

i just can't help myself. i am completely obsessed with the UK's greatest culinary gift to the universe, master chef marco pierre white . i'm not even a big fan of european cuisine, especially english. but i am quick becoming a fan. if not to eat (brits use ALL of the animal), to learn. marco is half italian, half french & 1000% english. and i can't seem to get him out of my head lately. i watched hell's kitchen UK season 4 in it's entirety on youtube. linda evans actually won it! (yes the dynasty linda evans). apparently she is HUGE in every brit's heart. she looks great at 66! and incredibly sweet. never eaten an oyster before, never heard of "tosser" or "wanker". how does that happen? i mean, you would think she was well traveled. she's linda evans!

"White has been dubbed the first celebrity chef, enfant terrible of the UK restaurant scene and the Godfather of modern cooking. White was, at the time, the youngest chef ever to have been awarded three Michelin stars."-wiki

if you search him on my blog, many posts will come up. chef crush is when i started dreaming about him after seeing him on the martha stewart show.

everyone is afraid of him. with good reason. to me, that is the mark of an excellent teacher. that fear thing makes you do things you could not have done alone. a good teacher can bring these things out of the student. at least for me. many of the teachers in my life had this element. they saw things in me i was unable to see myself. they helped me become a more interesting human. i think about them all the time. when i watch marco, i see the same thing. he is SO passionate, SO driven, and SO VERY SIMPLE.

the quote of his that guides me not only in the kitchen but in life, is

"mother nature is the true artist."

it's as important as

"do your practice and all is coming."

simple.

my old flame

ljhill11@yahoo.com (bindifry) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:43:00 +0000

i've been thinking. what makes me deny myself things that are good for me? avoid things that make me confident, clear headed & stable? things that make me feel good about myself?

my mind wanders to doris.

she is in perfect health. i would like to think i have something to do with that. long walks, occasional runs, top quality NON rawhide natural bones, high quality dog food without chemicals & home baked fiber flax biscuits. oh, and constant attention & love.

then i think about how i take care of my OWN health.

and i hope it's a passing phase.

"and this too shall pass..."-Goenka

i've been taking a little peek at myself lately and have noticed something weird. i seem to burn up energy caring for others. and i think it drains me a little. but i feel like i gain energy from doing this, so maybe i'm wrong. when i did reike, that was certainly the case. you gain as much healing energy as you put out, so there's no drain. hmmm. and i wondered.
what the heck is draining me?

anyhow, one thing i've wrote about lately is pulling back from yoga.

last week things changed. my old flame came back.

the rest is history.

the more you do this practice...

ljhill11@yahoo.com (bindifry) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:13:00 +0000

yoga continues to fascinate me. the levels of depth, the understanding you get from the fundamental postures through time is astounding. when i was new to yoga, i got bored with the fundamentals (most standing postures) and like many other students, was anxious to move beyond them. i don't feel that way anymore. i crave them, i do them everyday even if it's just that & a long headstand. i feel like i know how to "stretch" to the max in them rather than hanging out. i wonder if it's because that's mostly what i teach now. 95% of my students are very very new to yoga & working with standing postures is the best & safest to teach. they are difficult, but pretty accessable for the one-yoga-practice-per-week crowd. they don't think they are "stretching" but these postures open up your hips & hams far more efficiently than many of the seated bends. that is IF you understand them.

her voice is still in my head.

"the more you do this practice, the better you will understand it."-gwendoline hunt

that is the key. i don't find it helpful to teach "one-size-fits-all" allignment. instead i try to explain the logic. what is going on. because a class of 10 students with 10 bodies, 10 personalities, and 10 levels will NOT place their foot in exactly the same spot.

these students are teaching me yoga without even knowing it.

a student painted this piece for me. it's "guru" in sanskrit. it displays the "from darkness into light" aspect of teaching.

calling all men

ljhill11@yahoo.com (bindifry) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:43:00 +0000

what is keeping men away from yoga? it's becoming increasingly obvious that something is going on. many awesome teachers are men, but men make up probably 1% of all yoga students.

i teach yoga to travel corporations during their lunch. right now i have a total of 0 male students. that's down from 1.5 from the previous 6 months. i say 1.5 because one was very part-time. i had to ask the ladies if their office contained mostly women. nope. more men.

where are they?

what is keeping them from coming to class?

i have an awesome private student that i've known for 9 years-when he first started doing yoga. he was 56. and is faithful to the practice. he loves it. he is doing astanga with serious limitations in his body. but he is fine with that & just continues day after day, year after year never noticing how his body changes.

i notice.

and it really inspires me. i don't really know exactly what is keeping guys away from yoga, but from what i have seen in terms of knee, hip, shoulder & back problems, they could stand to benefit in a HUGE way.

would men feel more comfortable in a "man only" class?

or would that make them think it might be gay?

so i would like to ask the men out there.

what would it take to get you to try some yoga?

i'm not there yet

ljhill11@yahoo.com (bindifry) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:40:00 +0000

i've been thinking a little bit about yoga lately.

there are so many styles to choose from-as humans we tend to choose the one that resonates with us. the one we want to do, which is good on some levels. it's no wonder that many type "A" personalities-over achievers, triatheletes, diet control freaks, or just plain ole control freaks choose astanga. i have seen all kinds of transformations in serious students. i have seen these changes in my self, who also has fallen victim to the power it creates. when you do this intense practice for 2 hours every day 6 days a week without interruption for years, stuff happens. the body just goes from bud to bloom. and so follows the mind. but the old habits remain & dance around with this new energy. an energy that is both positive & negative.

uh-oh. better pull out the sutras-a yogi's instruction manual. yup. this is where yamas & niyamas come in like an anchor on a boat.

the point i am trying to make is this.

is the yoga style we choose really the best for us? if you want to sit, maybe you should sun salute? and if you want to do hundreds of sun salutes, maybe you need to sit?

is astanga "good" for me? my body has changed quite a bit since i was 31 when i began. i don't have that desire to achieve in yoga anymore. as a result, i have pulled my asana practice way back in favor of pranayama & meditation. often with a long head stand. i do these things before i teach because it makes me teach at half speed. i used to do pilates right before a class but was so reved up some students walked out.

i'm naturally hyper-active. not in an ADD way, but it used to be hard for me to sit still and watch a whole movie. that aspect of my life has dramatically improved. the other thing that changed is my ability to "listen" better when people are speaking to me.

the things that aren't so great are constant hip pain, frequent weight loss & weight gain, self abuse, depression & fatigue. i feel like i'm trying to settle into a routine that is better for me.

i'm not there yet.

are you?

♥ ♥ ♥♥ ♥ ♥♥ ♥ ♥♥ ♥ ♥

i want to guide your attention to a friend tracy who is doing remarkable things. she has always been an inspiration to me. last year tracy brought a hundred pairs of shoes to poor children in mysore. earlier this year she brought 70 pounds of art supplies to them.

she is currently gathering donations to build them a massive playground structure. she is working with a jewelry maker to create the "Practice for the Children Pendants."

"honoring the late beloved Shri K. Pattabhi Jois. I wanted to do something that would include Guruji and the Ashtanga students all over the world. Something that they would have to wear around their necks, to hold and have as a daily reminder that

"Practice and All is coming"...

thus this pendant was born."

they are only $30 a piece, completely hand crafted & lovely. half of the money goes to operation shanti . she has already made almost $600 for the children of mysore.

please visit tracys blog for details.

what an interesting concept

ljhill11@yahoo.com (bindifry) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:15:00 +0000

i was getting my hair done & my stylist said to me, "my accountant who has been doing yoga for 2 months took a training & is now teaching yoga. will he hit the market & make the same money as you? because i know how much time & money you put into it."

my answer without hesitation was

"yes."

it IS a fact that you-yes you-can teach yoga with no schooling or even an established yoga practice.

what interesting concept.

no wonder my students are baffled by my teaching techniques & my hands-on adjustments. students learning yoga outside of a studio rarely get touched, put into postures, taught how to breathe, or ever taught a headstand.

what an interesting concept.

because i've been doing yoga over 13 years, teaching for 10, taken 3 teacher trainings, studied in india for 11 months, spent almost a hundred grand on learning yoga, i've taught in japan & thailand and i get paid less or the same as another "teacher" who takes a 2 month yoga course.

and i wonder what other field is this also a reality?

a week ago, a fellow teacher, who i've known 10 years & has been doing yoga that long, asked me what a very common posture that he actually teaches is called. he is famous astanga teacher in the clubs & can not name the postures he teaches.

what an interesting concept.

do i bang my head against a wall?
nope.

because every now and then someone "gets" it.

the gems are buried deep under an immense pile of yoga bull&%$t.

you just have to be patient & wait for them rise to the top.

give them your best & hope they continue the cycle.

a new crop of man

ljhill11@yahoo.com (bindifry) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:52:00 +0000

i tuned in to watch "oprah" today to see ash & a.b.

but was delighted to meet this famous polo player from argentina-nacho figueras. if he does not get you motivated to watch polo i don't know what will.

there seems to be a new crop of man.

and i kind of like it :-)

i'm a loser baby

ljhill11@yahoo.com (bindifry) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 15:20:00 +0000

i've been thinking an awful lot about something someone posted on facebook about a month ago. and i can't really understand why i can't get it out of my mind.

this person quoted sharath-the new guru of astanga yoga

"without having children, there is no life."

how can this be? SO many people can not breed. so many can not afford it.
so what is that supposed to mean to childless people?

there is no life. period.

damn that's a hard pill to swallow. i guess i have no life. and many many other people in my life are losers, too.

this came out of the mouth of a person who has a child, so of course it rings true for them. i'm sure it gives them peace of mind, a "reason" to live.

and i wonder if people feel sorry for us childless folk. so many who want kids but can't for whatever reason. i mean, isn't it bad enough to want to breed so desperately and to find that you can't & on top of it being told that since you can't, you have no life.

i think i'll just stick my head up my ass because i'm a total loser.

so why don't you kill me?

15 minutes of fame

ljhill11@yahoo.com (bindifry) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 01:58:00 +0000

in light of the recent passing of patrick swayze, my thoughts wander to 1983. my first year of college. i'm 17 years old. i hear about an audition for dancers for a film out in some cornfields an hours drive from the university. we had to learn a dance number that would be taught to us by one of the film's other stars-patrick swayze joined by his wife, who is also a dancer. i spend the next three 14 hour days filming a video for the movie grandview usa . and got paid to do it. this video, which is part of the story (c.thomas howell dreams of being a rock star & seducing jamie lee curtis) is shown on m.t.v. to promote it's opening.

pretty surreal stuff for sure. especially for a teenager in her first year of college. for a minute i was sure i was going to be a big big star.

patrick, his wife & jamie-lee take us all out to eat when the filming is complete. i sit right across from jamie lee sharing a pizza, making small talk. no big deal.

it was really fun getting my photo in a few teen rags.

i'm on the left screaming

and laying on the ground on the left in a sleeveless pink t-shirt with a diagonal black zipper across the front, bad 80's hair, black mini skirt, tights & black chucks.

it's pretty fun to look at these

i'm afraid that was my personal 15 minutes of fame

UPDATE

i found the video on youtube.

a wizard, a true star

ljhill11@yahoo.com (bindifry) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 22:02:00 +0000

i've seen todd rundgren many times. he's an artist i don't think about when getting a ticket for when he comes to town. i'm not an ultra-fan like half of yesterday's audience clad in todd tour shirts & "something-anything" hand made purses sitting in VIP stage seating. but i can't help but feel connected somehow to him. his ballads are some of the finest i've personally ever heard, & he is definitely an ageless genius with opinions, in total control of his artistic destiny with a rabid fan following in chicago. the show yesterday was a first time ever perfomance of the album, a wizard, a true star complete with massive todd costume changes & full on media surround show backed by a white tux with tails clad superband. the opening band was todd's earlier band utopia
using a seperate stage set up. the boys wore white tshirts with black jeans. the colonel said he had not heard these songs live for um...30 years.

i thought about it today, because yesterday's performance was really inspiring to me. my yoga practice reflected this. and i wondered why his fans have SO much love for him & why i have a weakness for him. i think it's because he remains close to his fans. he was taking photos with them & sigining autographs in the balcony before the show. he brings them on the stage, he throws candy into the audience. he makes his fans feel important. it's kind of cool and rare when so many "stars" seperate themselves from their audience.

and at 62 years old, he is showing no signs of stopping.

in memory of feroz

ljhill11@yahoo.com (bindifry) — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 18:05:00 +0000

sunday mornings are super fun ever since IFC started running WAKE UP TO BOLLYWOOD from 9-12. i always have to miss the last hour because i teach, but today is labor day weekend & my class is cancelled. so i watched a silly film called welcome with a MOST awesome cast-akshay kumar, anil kapoor (many of you know him from slumdog), nana pataker-one of india's finest actors EVER (have you seen salaam bombay?) and someone else who has an immense prescence you never forget ferroz khan who is pictured in the center (the left is nana, the right is anil) is known as the indian "clint eastwood" because of the way he swaggers.

check him out

what a stud. i own one of his most important films dharmatma in which he made a BIG impact. so did his co-star prem nath they don't make actors like these anymore :-(

luckily they live forever in film :-)

feroz died earlier this year. and if i can talk my guest into watching it, we will watch dharmatma.

in memory of feroz.

fact.

ljhill11@yahoo.com (bindifry) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 19:58:00 +0000

me thinks i will be here for a while. i'm finding a strong creative muse in cooking. i have no idea why. but it is sweeping me up ! me thinks you should watch this blog if you enjoy my writing & info.

i don't want to kill this blog, though. in fact, i've had a few tidbits as of late to share, such as a convo i heard of girls saying "yoga, shmoga. i learn that shit from youtube vids" and i wonder if indian people think the same cause that's what i use to learn how to cook : (

and another fact that is bringing me back into vegetarianism. i started to eat meat when i discovred yoga. now that i'm doing less asana, i don't eat it much. but when i hardcored in the asana, i ate lots of meat. go figure. i'm also discovering that i am a lot more chilled out & understanding since i cut back on the asana. the stuff i do that is yoga for me lately is knitting in an errect position for hours at a time, cooking, meditating, daily pranayama, sometimes twice, and switching out negativity from my head. go figure.

it's time for me to return to vipassana. and now that the colonel has gone back to work, i can begin planning that. i really need it.

the wheel

ljhill11@yahoo.com (bindifry) — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 14:57:00 +0000

i'm halfway through my 8 week pottery course. which means i go to "the wheel" for the second half. thank god, because it's super hard to get a nice round shape without it's help. i felt like a kid playing with clay, which is basically what i did. no rules, just suggestions. i like that the instructors let you explore without getting your way too much. and even if your stuff is ugly, they say nice things. my stuff is kind of ugly, but most of it is for my pets, and they are forgiving. this is a photo of post-glaze yet pre-fire, so they will look a lot different when they emerge from the kiln.

apologies for not paying much attention to this blog right now. i'm really into my new wordpress food blog. and i did not want to feel this way, but the more i learn about wordpress, i realize it is better than blogger.

hmmm.

breathe

ljhill11@yahoo.com (bindifry) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:45:00 +0000

annoyed that food has taken over my blog, i decided to create a shy side blog about eating & cooking.

a taste of the fry

shy as in no bells & whistles, smaller photos, only food-related links.

i was very curious about wordpress & i did not want to switch this main blog over.

this kind of forces me to talk about other things.
like teaching. it has been an interesting challenge teaching outside of a studio. and my attitude has changed a lot over the years. when i was a new teacher (as in 5 years or less), i thought i was too good for this kind of work. 10 years later, i realize how difficult it is. and i'm up for it because i understand what i'm doing SO much more now. i like teaching beginners & people who just want to feel better. all that other stuff is not so important. like how much they do or why they do it. people's attitudes about yoga has changed over the years. it used to be all about the workout. now people want stillness, they want to learn how to relax. they want to learn how to breathe.

me too.

happy kitchen

ljhill11@yahoo.com (bindifry) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 13:16:00 +0000

on monday i visited my favorite indian grocery patel brothers

pioneer in asian indian groceries
serving since 1974
bringing motherland closer
2610 w. devon (at rockwell)

i like that last sentence because it's true. obviously my weakness for india is getting the best of me. i am in no position to leave town right now, but if i could, i would go right now & stay half a year.

i needed hing, better known as asafoetida , devil's dung, stinking gum & food of the gods. it's a digestive aid, among many other things, with a strong flavor, common in indian food.

the grocery has an adjacent cookware store well stocked with tiffins

i must have some of those. they keep a full indian spread toasty warm. they are delivered to millions all over india. a delivered lunchbox.

the budget is thin, so all i got was a tawa.

"One of the most important utensils in the Indian kitchen, these griddles are made from cast iron and often have a long handle. Tawas are used for cooking breads such as parathas and chapattis. In South India, they are used for frying dosas, pancakes made from ground rice and lentils. After 5 minutes over a medium gas flame, tawas are a good conductor of heat and cook breads evenly without scorching. They are also ideal untensils for roasting spices. Tawas come in many sizes; smaller ones are no larger than 10cm in diameter, while others may be the same size as a bicycle wheel."

i have to get used to it. it's kind of thin & it's easy to burn things.

my guts are maxing out from all of this & i had to take a small break (as in almost a day) from all the spice just in time to discover a most AWESOME website

supercook

this is a popular database (in the top 50 new sites according to "time" magazine) where you enter all the contents of your kitchen & it posts all the recipes you can make without leaving the house. i don't have a well-stocked kitchen because i have dorm fridges, no stove, and no freezer. i also have an ant problem so i can't keep food out. but up popped 2000 recipes anyhow! a half hour later, i had a nice warm treat.

mini cinnamon doughnuts. baked in mini muffin tin instead of deep fried. lovely-like little pillows of poundcake. i never would have thought to make something like that at night while watching tony bourdain.

after a few hours....straight back to indian food-i think mainly because my spices brought up lots of thai & indian recipes. i get so hungry on tuesdays because i'm downtown all day. so i whipped this up to curb my appetite

spicy indian scrambled eggs.

ouch. i'm not sure that was a good idea before teaching several yoga classes. but it sure tasted yummy & it's something i would have never thought about. i hardly ever eat eggs, but have them for baking dog biscuits & what not.

it's all about the tools. the tawa, the tongs, the tiffins, and the most wonderful discovery

vintage pyrex mixing bowls

i have the orange polka dog bowl among a new growing collection from my friends at shangrila vintage . the solid durable glass make kitchen life so much happier.

and happy tools

make me happy.

happy trash....what makes you so happy?

roti roti, nati nati......

ljhill11@yahoo.com (bindifry) — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 23:31:00 +0000

after class today a student came to me and said-
"there's a yoga teacher (nameless thank god) who insists on playing super loud rock music during yoga class. because, she says, that it's the anniversary of woodstock, and it was all about "peace & love." what this yoga teacher obviously does not know is this woman & a few other's i also teach are in their 60's. this means that many of them were actually AT woodstock. so don't try to be clever-you KNOW if you were born in the 80s or 90s you should probably start paying attention to those born in the 50s & 60s (yours truly 1965). seriously ..it's embarassing. and don't play your freakin music so loud no one can hear your directions in class. if you in fact have anything to share besides your dreams of being at woodstock in the "peace & love" 60's woodstock. they humped. told me it was "great :-) !!! " but peace & love? who can relate to that?

the yoga teacher told this woman "you should be able to do yoga in a room where bombs are going off."

nice.

obviously the new yogic "obsession" is believing everything a "teacher" who has not done her homework (what is sankskrit????) says. now yoga is not about the student. it's about the young, inexperienced teacher. who is barely a student herself.

sad.

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

meh. i loathe "yoga" discussion.

today!!! i made my first half dozen chapatis (also called paratha, parota, parotha, roti among many others) and holy cow was i a stupid proud american chef wanna-be. i just memorized several tutorial vids & went for it.

perfect because this recipe is DELICIOUS and by far my favorite so far. i have learned to double the spices. many are timid not to scare the average american. my my my...this is mashed eggplant. or more elegently called, baingan bharta . the very best way to dress up any kind of eggplant. this is totally vegetarian, nutritious, & YUM !!!!!

here's the final spread

i'm not trying to be an ass-hat & compliment myself, but this was one tasty informative journey for me.

and the journey continues. home made paneer for paneer butter masala tomorrow. paneer=cheese y'all :-)

WHAT is wrong with me?

show me the curry!

ljhill11@yahoo.com (bindifry) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:34:00 +0000

after making the palak paneer, i wished to make my own paneer. and was absolutely thrilled to learn how easy it is! with help from my new bffs hetal & anuja, all is possible!

show me the curry is a down to earth indian cooking site chock full of videos. i am now not only brave enough to attempt cheese, i want to make roti! and i shall.

here's the butter chicken. holy cow there's a lot of naughty in that dish. it can be enlightening when we make a favorite dish. the spinach & dhal are nutritional powerhouses & butter chicken is just WRONG on so many levels.

just look at it glisten. any time you get something "mahkni" style, this is what you get. butter, heavy whipping cream, sour cream. delicious, yes. and probably a good idea if you are trying to put on weight.

a big shout out to rick bayless for winning top chef masters ! he won over a french & an italian! $100,000 goes to midwest sustainable farmers! rick wins=chicago also wins!
think about it. rick has brought mexican regional cuisine to the level of french & italian yet beyond !!!

viva la mexico indeed!

curry up curry up & wait....

ljhill11@yahoo.com (bindifry) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:42:00 +0000

after finishing my third curry, massamun curry paste

which turned out flavorful but much more mild than the green-i had to use all of it in the dish (i podded fresh peas for it), i turned my attention to indian curries. for some reason i decided on balti style (from an area in pakistan) and searched for the ingrediants. the first masala had 17 ingredients, so i decided to go with a garam masala, which is simpler.

60g (4 1/2 tablespoons) coriander seeds
40g (2 1/2 tablespoons) cumin seeds
25g (5 teaspoons) aniseed
25g (5 strips) cassia bark (substitute cinnamon)
25g (1 1/2 tablespoons) green cardamom seeds
15g (1 tablespoon) cloves
5 g (1 1/2 teaspoons) dried mint leaves
2g (4-6) bay leaves
2g (1 tablespoon) dry rose petals (optional)
1/2g (1 teaspoon) saffron (optional)

i found everything sans the rose petals. i also left out the saffron because its SO expensive. you have to get it from behind the cashier cause people steal it. i remember in india they were always pushing exotic saffron. no matter where you go, buying jewelry for instance. "madam, with that ring would you also be interested in some....SAFFRON?" "madam, these carpets are so rare, how about some SAFFRON to take with you as well?"

too weird. but in a good way. here it is roasting.

then it's pounded in the mortar forever & sealed in an air tight glass container. my entire house smells like india now. and that's not a bad thing at all.

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

last nite i made my first veg dhal. south indian style. expected it to be runny & un-flavorful. cause i'm very white. nope. unfortunately the only photo i got was in the pan. after that it was just GONE.

a good sign.
tarka dhal

and i got all excited cause i thought, well, i conqured the dal, why not pick up the goods to make your fave? BUTTER CHICKEN. the punjabi god food. why the hell not? do it...do it ....do it........do it to it like this bad boy

room service in amritsar, punjab, india. you can stand a fork in it.
butter chicken

today i conqured palak paneer. spinach with cheese. and to my delight, it rocked. i have NO idea how i managed this, but i did. and was very impressed how healthy it is. 10 cups of spinach with cottage cheese, very yummy protein substitute rich in calcium & hardly any fat at all.

palak paneer

porn photos of the butter chicken will appear in a future post.
thank you for tuning in.

driving down curry boulevard

ljhill11@yahoo.com (bindifry) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 02:38:00 +0000

i HAVE to get this out of the way. the recent blog shout out & my absolute fave as of late is called fu penguin . another brilliant blogger who got a book deal. i can't really tell you what this is about. you just have to spend a little time there.

the curry turned out amazing. the fish was the freshest i've ever made-it held up to the sauce very well. i needed no additional spice. just a couple spoonfuls of the paste. i was delighted that those 2 missing ingredients did not matter at all. i think the obsessive manner in which i put forth the effort resulted in a karmic reward. i guess what i'm saying is if you care enough about every detail, it will pay off. and i learned a ton.

there it is. with thai eggplants & shitake mushrooms. it was beyond good. and i'm fatter because of it :(

tomorrow i am trying 2 more curries. the first because everything is roasted, i think it will have super interesting flavor.

masaman curry paste-nam phrik kaeng massaman

3 large dried red chilies, seeded and soaked
5 roasted shallots
2 bulbs roasted garlic
1 tsp roasted sliced galangal
1 tbsp roasted sliced lemon grass
1 tbsp ground roasted coriander seeds
1 tsp ground roasted cumin
2 ground roasted cloves
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp salt (sea salt is preferred)
1 tsp shrimp paste

and because i did green, i must do red-nam phrik kaeng daeng

13 small dried chilies, seeds removed, soaked in water
3 tbsp chopped shallot
4 tbsp chopped garlic
1 tbsp chopped galangal
2 tbsp chopped lemon grass
2 tsp chipped kaffir lime rind (or substitute fresh lime peel if not available)
1 tbsp chopped coriander root (or substitute fresh coriander stems)
20 white peppercorns
1 1/2 tsp ground roasted coriander seeds
1/2 tsp ground roasted cumin seeds
1 tsp shrimp paste
1 tsp sea salt

it's not that i want to turn this into a food blog. in fact i wonder if i should have seperate blogs for seperate interests. but this is me. i go through impassioned phases.

and right now it happens to be curry.

that is a ring. of japanese curry rice with omelet. find it at kaboodle! a new way to shop

of cat & curry

ljhill11@yahoo.com (bindifry) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 18:08:00 +0000

i don't know what happened to me, but a week ago i got obsessed with making curry powder & after that, paste suddenly followed. i never thought much about making thai food, but suddenly i felt the need to make 4-6 jars of different curry pastes that i can use throughout the next 3 months. that's how long these concentrated works of wonder last. just a spoonful gets you a whole dish of savory food. and i researched wisely. and visited half a dozen thai/vietnamese/korean/chinese groceries all over the city-with many more to come.

in search of coriander root!

GORGEOUS and impossible to locate.

and kaffir limes

equally beautiful & non-existent. the temple of thai resource that i use says they have limited availability & can be purchased from them at $3 US EACH! unfortunately you can't ever get the true flavor with a substitute.

i've had to substitute. and i'm in the middle of the experiment. yesterday i made the paste with a vintage food processor-

the mortar & pestle

talk about stone age. this was serious hard work. you have to squat on the ground like women in south east asia & mexico because that's the leverage you need. and you have to keep at it for a long ass time. and you have to expect chili juice to splash into your eyes from time to time. i spent an hour over this device. then it all went into the food processor. i just could not get it smooth enough. and i feel like a cheat & am ashamed of myself. substituted ingredients, food processor...

at one of the thai markets yesterday i purchased my very first whole catfish. i had NO idea how to filet it. it kind of freaked me out. and i obsessed over it. for too many years. so i watched a youtube vid & conquered the task.

from now on, i will buy the whole fish because i can use the rest for stock, etc. my whole kitchen smells like thailand.

here's the paste

the next blog will feature the final outcome.

the meeting of cat & curry.

that's-a-one-a-spicy-kitty