There are craggy trees by the side of the road abandoned but still bearing blossom and fruit. There are tenderly cared for orchards and trees neglected in city yards and greenways.

Apple Tree

Our city has an urban forester and tree specialist just focused on trees until their yearly vacation dates arrive. They have interesting answers and recommendations but they do not pay the bill.

There are two old Western Cedar trees which have rocked and rolled the sidewalk, deposited thousands of needles in my gutters, uplifted the street and could fall on my house in the right wind storm (Plus they block the sun from the solar panels 2 hours a day at high noon.). What is my responsibility to these trees and to the owner?

We had to take out 8 massive fruit and nut trees when we moved into our house 20 years ago. As the major rain storm the day we moved in excited rotting limbs to fall and break during the night in a horrifying thundering nightmare.

4 apple trees remain. One Gravenstein is over 100 years old, very tall and extremely beautiful. The tree has paid its way with applesauce to sell, dried apples to gift, pie to enjoy, and buckets full to share with friends.

With homemade coddling moth traps, a bit of fertilizer, geranium and natural sprays, pruning and lots and lots of water, this tree has been part of our lives. The deer, raccoons, possums, and squirrels love this tree as much as our family. My Mother spent her last days watching the finches, sap suckers, and woodpeckers dance about and the tree cycle through its year of growth and release.

No one is at home to climb and prune this huge old remnant of the orchard. The tree is unable to ward off the moths and apple maggot. The many uncared for trees in our neighborhood re-infect this tree about every two weeks. Even English Ivy is growing up the rotting part of the trunk and coming out of a limbing hole near the top. This tree took $800 of care this year for 2 batches of apple sauce and three pies.

The tallest growth on the tree blocks the solar panels for an hour when it is not pruned.

How does one make these decisions? It is not in any manual or instruction book. Although a true orchardist would have a bottom line not just 3 freezers full of last year’s applesauce.

Are we part of the problem or part of a solution?

We have walked through the decision stages and researched and still we are at odds.

My partner says we should just prune it to keep the panels unblocked and let it go. I vote for cutting it down, renewing it, and preserving the environment for the critters to enjoy and model responsible tree care.

How does one measure the life of a tree? What part does hunger, shade, and beauty play?

We would value your comments on our decision.

Some related posts you might also enjoy:
Apples, apples and more apples
Trees which become catalogs
Never build on your food supply
6 apples in heaven

Post from: www.patriciaswisdom.com

The Life of an Apple Tree

By the age of 10, I had learned that when one eats what other folks have prepared for you to eat, and if you comment on it with some kind of pleasure, the rewards are profound.  I would have to say my brain lights up!

By age 20 I had become a knowledgeable and practicing vegetarian.  Yes, you can still eat pizza, which truly combines some of my most favorite tastes into bliss.

When I got married I brought with me my three spiritual practice books:  The Joy of Cooking, The Tassajara Bread Book and Tassajara Cooking.   One contained all the basic things I needed to know and conversation tables and the other two were from the first Buddhist –Zen Monastery in the United States.

I also bought myself a stone mill to grind hard wheat berries and a 100 pound bag of Canadian Wheat in sealed storage containers.

When I took my Certification training in Mediation the world renown instructor said, “The best advice I can give you when mediating in a new place is eat the local food and enjoy it with outspoken pleasure.”

My mother was an okay cook, who later in life resented doing so much of the cooking for her family.

I discovered early on that I could heal many problems with food.  I loved to knead bread.  I made my food love and eating success into my spiritual practice.

I did cooking every day.  With the skills I learned practicing with cooking, I could find pleasure in chopping wood, cleaning, and especially laundry.  (Never mastered ironing)

When three of my family members were discovered to have Celiac Disease, I turned my energies into make healing foods for them. I would truly say out loud without any reservations, I am one of the leading experts on this malady and how to cook and heal with food – in the world.  I gave them all my love and ignored my needs and my wants.

I have come back to ME.  I am coming home to my food love and love of eating.  I am working very hard at healing my whole self.  I am putting my muscles and mind to work at making the most beautiful and loving food for me; that I can find pleasure and reward that sets my mind to symphony crescendo.  I am grateful to be so smart and creative that my hands and heart can read my knead.

Here is the ZEN Story that inspired this practice:

A young monk was assigned to make the bread for the monastery.  While he was kneading the bread he began to wonder at just what might be the perfect food for one to eat.  He decided that it was the apple, which required no cooking thus would be the perfect food to eat.  This monk then chose to practice this decision by eating only 1 apple a day for a whole year.  He also had water but no tea.

The young monk lost a bit of weight the first few weeks of his practice, but it was not too much. He remained healthy and was able to do his work and his other practices assigned to him.  At the end of the year the Master asked him what he had learned. His reply:  “to enjoy one’s apple.”

The Tassajara Cooking book by Edward Espe Brown begins with this writing:

Cooking is not a mystery.
The more heart we put out
The more heart we put in.
To bring cooking alive
We give our life.
Giving our life willingly we don’t
Get put out.
Washing cutting cooking cleaning,
Exploring ways to give life to our life.
Not knowing already how and what to do,
Practice feeling it
Out of what is not known
Through the warmth and anxiety,
Not sticking to a particular way,
Insisting it is the only way
Even though it is quite good;
Open to feeling the various possibilities,
The tentative ways of giving life to our life.

To feel out our left hand, our back, our toes,
To feel out our breathing, our movements, our stance,
This is our freedom, this is our wisdom.
The mystery is that it is possible to do
What we don’t know how to do.

What practice do you do just for your own reward and pleasure? I truly do enjoy your comments and look forward to them.

Other related posts you might enjoy:
Breakfast with Buddha
Ladybugs
Animal Vegetable Miracle

If you enjoyed this post would you share it on Stumble Upon, Twitter or Facebook?
Thank you

Post from: www.patriciaswisdom.com

Food as a Spiritual Practice

Our recent book group read was quite light on its feet!  That’s because it was about a 62 year old woman who owns a dance studio in North Carolina.  The author has a fun sense of humor and the book can be read in just a matter of a few delightful, entertaining hours.

It is an older book and I purchased it used for the grand total of 2 cents!

The narrator of the story is working up to experience “empty nest” and she and her husband are busy adding a “Florida” room to their house.  All 4 children are nearly launched and out on their own.  The story is about when all those unexpected things happen when one thought everything was falling into place.

The contractor discovers that there are huge problems with the foundation of the house, only daughter gets engaged to the son of the wealthiest family in town who want 950 guests for the event, which is not in the budget!  Then Caroline’s sister separates from her husband and moves into the house from Atlanta and brings her nasty little dog with her.  Husband is a public defender who loves his work and has assisted 3 of his 4 children in becoming lawyers; #4 is deciding between dance and law for his future.

The book is full of funny conversations and fast food meals as Caroline tries to figure things out.  The book is clever – fun and plays upon the very traditional, stereotypical role of women, particularly “Southern Women”.

Although a quick read , I thought the heroine just waited around for other’s to truly solve the problems and everything turned out just too smoothly at the end.  Thank goodness the contractor was a wonderful problem – solver not only for houses but also for life’s problematic events.

Liz brought this book to our attention and let us know that her favorite book by this author is one called EAT CAKE!

Our group really appreciated this book and several people were truly influenced by ideas shared by Caroline in the course of the book.  How do you stick with a husband once kids are grown and gone?

I think the discussion that this book promoted was the best part of this book.  Well, and I should not leave out the wonderful food – roasted pumpkin and ricotta lasagna – yum yum!

It was a good early look at what women are experiencing as they move into their 60s.   And we should all be that lucky to find a contractor and then one who could handle so many of the problems with humor and great skill in dog training!

I liked that it was raining and I had a fire burning in the fireplace and I could just curl up and enjoy the story in one lazy afternoon.

Do you have a book that is just for a light read or for a rainy afternoon?   How about travelling books? Is it the quick reads or the contemplative reads that create the most discussion?  How do you discuss things you have read on blogs or on Stumble Upon?

Some other good books you might enjoy:

Hats Off to Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Revising Committee
Merle’s Door
Three Weeks With My Brother

Post from: www.patriciaswisdom.com

Book Review: Step, Ball, Change ~Jeanne Ray

Sunset over the ocean

From my hours in the classroom studying, I never seemed to be able to fully grasp the concept of God’s Grace.  I just wrestled all the time with any papers that had to be written on the topic. It is considered a rather female topic in the realm of Christian Theology and so the BIG GUYS just about never go deeply into the idea and pass on its relativity to the human spirit to the Pastoral Counseling Gurus.

Now part of the wrestle is because I confused things as a child in my religion and polity classes, such as I always thought I would know God because HIS name was HOWARD.   You know the Lord’s Prayer starts out with “Our Father, which art in Heaven, Howard be thy name…”  (Hallowed is how it is written in the Bible). I had that old prayer memorized a long time before I could read.

One day I met Howard, and I just knew I was wrong!

So Grace was my Great Auntie, who was short and old, and the person who lived next door to my Grandparents with her brother because she did not have enough money to provide a living.  So being told I was full of God’s Grace, just meant to me that the Heavenly Spirit was loving me, no matter what, and this was a good thing, because apparently I was not a very loveable child – asking too many questions and not getting my work done well.

In counseling classes, I learned that Grace is the power within us to love ourselves for who we are, the power to recognize our transgressions giving us forgiveness and “grace as the constructive empowerment for new life and growth.”

I have found turning 60 has provided me with empowerment, growth and forgiveness of sterling silver value.  Grace is the powerful love that enables  me to make changes in my life,  reveals to me my actions, deeds and historic stories which entrap me and entice me to remain static, and then  grace releases me with forgiveness so I can find peace or surrender and explore the “gifts”  I have received.

The second concept of Grace is that of the prayer before a meal.  This ritual began in the desert climes as a cautionary practice to ward off food poisoning.  If you have been out working in the fields or hot sun all day, having you feet washed (face and hands too) was a sign of respect for your hard efforts and a removal of the “muck” of the world.  If you paused and offered prayers and calmness before you began eating, this allowed for your physical body to adjust from fasting mode in the heat to absorbing mode in the shade or coolness.

When my children were growing we sang Grace before meals and conversation.  It brought us focus and drew us together as a family.  We took notice of what was spread out before us.  Our favorites were singing rounds which drew our voices together like a casserole of flavors.

Finally I am thinking about the Grace that is given to me in the form of my talents – gifts.  I am able to write the words upon this form.   I can create something new, beautiful, elegant and gracious.  I have a gift of healing and integrating ideas in new and construction directions. I can meet my needs – rarely alone, so I am able to bring together a team effort.

I think gratitude is the expression of Grace Recognized in the self or the other and the acknowledgement of that recognition – taking notice.

I am gratefully acknowledging the gifts that have been bestowed upon me and my endeavors this season.  I am grateful for the food of the garden, the words of comment, the readers of my efforts, the gleaners of recipes, and the enthusiastic support – it is surely a Gracious Cake that is set before me on this table.  Thank you – each and every one.

Love to hear the stories of your Gracious Cake in this season of Gratitude.

Other related posts you might enjoy:
Hats Off to Two Wonderful World Changing Men and the Books About Them
To Be Of Use
House Gratitude in Focus
Hats Off to The Ladies of The Club

Post from: www.patriciaswisdom.com

Grace

I have been collecting blog articles that have been posted about food this autumn. I have posted a few recipes since I came up with the idea for this fund raiser and learning tool.  Just like any potluck – one needs to expect potluck.  And just like any party one must expect variations on a theme.  The theme for this potluck was LOVE Food.

I have been reading about food for months.  I am eating to heal my body.  I am studying the politics of food and am astounded by how much money is involved in the food industry.

I love to eat, slowly and carefully and enjoy the flavors of the food.  I do love food and the vast majority of what I eat, I prepare.  Much of the last 25 years, food has been how I nurtured and healed my children, a way to love and nurture myself, and fuel to keep the fires burning and keep the pace.

I do not enjoy gardening, and have been involved with gardens for most of my life.  I do love eating local and organic and knowing the “who” that produced my food. I saw my Depression Era parents gardening, putting food by; cooking together and they were a loving team in those efforts.   Because of their team effort our plates were never empty – but full of their love and concern.  This was the tradition handed down to them; it was the foundation of their generosity.

I believe because of the cycle of life and the seasons, we look at food carefully this time of year. We wish to share what we have and to warm our insides – nourish the darkness to come and sustain our time indoors – encouraging stories and friends with food offerings.

Thus I came to this fundraising EBook idea – to make sure lots of children have food and medical needs cared for through UNICEF.  I put out the invitation and have been rewarded with a feast to place into this book….

So let us now partake of the online potluck and postings…grab a plate and I hope you enjoy these food adventures ….

Some of these food posts are just posts where I paused, read and enjoyed – some are offerings to go into the EBook for UNICEF donations.

Grab a plate. You go first…

Jannie at Jannie Funster, celebrated the first storm and power outage with this great cooking feat of fun.

Davina took us on her vacation and shared her wonderful enjoyed treats and adventures on Shades of Crimson.

Even Zen Habits got into the food discussions early.

Vered of Blogger for Hire fame posted this offering early in the month and folks are reporting in on how they fared with using the recipe for events.  Rave reviews!

Julie of Random Meanderings got into the spirit of colder weather and posted this recipe to go into the EBook primarily because she wanted to share in the EBook fundraiser for UNICEF. Thank you Julie for your enthusiastic response.

Tracy gave 4 recipes for the EBook and  sent us her mother’s lovely Korean Salad and pictures of her hands showing us “how to”.

Pete and Betsy of Passing Thru went in search of their food and how to locate local CSAs, produce and benevolent meat cutters. Such good ideas about how to gather and eat locally.

Bunny Got Blog, loves Halloween and shared these gems, and sent pictures and more delights for the EBook.

Gena, of Choosing Raw, surprised me with a cooked food recipe.  This site is primarily a recipe book every post.  I have made about 15 yummy things from her offerings and not been disappointed yet.

And then I savored Gena’s post about “What Food is NOT” which fed the need for contemplation and emotional release.

There I hope you feel satisfied by the offerings and may I get you anything else? Coffee, Tea, water?

These are just the Potluck entries and there are lots of recipes and pictures for the EBook. A Number of the submissions are from people who do not have blogs…

I like the good conversation the very best, your thoughtful comments greatly appreciated and enjoyed.

I want to thank all the folks who sent in submissions, I will work as quickly as I am able to get the EBook together and available for downloads. If you are still working on a recipe to submit, please feel free to do so as I am about 8 recipes short of “great” EBook. Thank you so much.

Now that I am fueled, back to working on the EBook.

Post from: www.patriciaswisdom.com

Welcome! To The Harvest Potluck!

Halloween Sunshine

Halloween Sunshine 2

Post from: www.patriciaswisdom.com

Happy Halloween

I had been given a little book called Muffins by a neighbor but we could not get the muffins we had tried to solidify using Gluten Free flour combinations, because our family needs to eat Gluten Free.  My guy did not know this and saw the words Pumpkin and Chocolate Chips in the title and went for it.  They are amazingly good and children love them.

I copied out the recipe onto a card and gave Muffin book the “from”spot.  I gave the book away – could not find that book when I put it in Google search – so thank you to whoever created it.

Chocolate-chip-Pumpkin-Muffins

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins
½ cup chopped almonds (I grind these sometimes into flour or omit)
1 2/3 cup raw sugar granules (honey works well if you add more flour)
1 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spices (cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg – your favorites)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder (Gluten free works well)
¼ teaspoon salt (I omit)
2 large eggs, beaten (I leave out the yolks) or use flax seed goo (If you ask I will share)
1 cup plain pumpkin puree (I noticed that canned pumpkin puree is available on Amazon*)
½ cup melted butter
1 cup Gluten Free/dairy free Chocolate Chips (one can use the fake one’s too)
2 cups of Gluten Free flour – or whole wheat, barley, oat, pastry, bread flour, or a combination (rye flour is not so yummy in these).

Set the oven at 350’F and grease the muffin pans.  I use cupcake papers when these were going to schools or children’s parties for treats.

Mix dry ingredients.  Mix wet ingredients.  Mix together.
Bake 20-25 minutes – let them cool a few minutes before removing from pans.

Enjoy.

My daughter just called for this recipe – I told her I was posting it and putting it in the e-book.

I am looking forward to more recipes, post and pictures arriving. Do you have a recipe for a food you love to make and eat?

Here are some related posts:
UNICEF Fundraser – Looking for Good Food
A Sweet Pumpkin Treat

*I have found Ambrosia Creamed Rice on Amazon.com and now pumpkin puree without a huge postage tag – FYI to my overseas cooks

Happy Halloween!  Loving your costumes and tricks at my door!

Comments oh so welcome…

Post from: www.patriciaswisdom.com

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins

pumpkin

Dear Mr. Williams,

Every year I give $100 to UNICEF – you know, the Children’s Project of the United Nations.  I was not that generous as a child, but I did carry my donation box from door to door as I “trick or treated” and I remember one year having nearly $20 in my box.

The truth be told, my Mother made me put in 5 cents every time I said what she considered to be a impolite word, and without ever saying any of the BIG four, I had contributed well.

Last year only 3 children came to my door with donation boxes, so I mailed off the check.

This year I do not have $100 for UNICEF.  Because I think it is an important program, I decided that I must be creative to get that money sent.   I think many, many other people will be having trouble making a donation this year too.

Children still need food and supplies no matter our circumstance.

I am writing an e-book Cookbook.   I have no big name contributors of recipes, just my book group, neighbors, and my on- line community.   I thought I would make this cookbook full of recipes of food love – you know those real food dishes that one just loves to make and eat.

I have just finished reading Michael Pollan’s  book In Defense of Food and he is very concerned that folks just eat efficiently and not very often with LOVE in mind.

I would love to add a recipe of FOOD LOVE from you to the book.  Would you consider sending me a recipe by November 1, 2009?   I will make the food and take a picture if you do not have time?

The e-book will be offered on my Blog – Patricia’s Wisdom – as soon as I get all the entries collated and edited for a $3-$5 donation.

At the very least, could this Children’s Fund raiser get some attention this coming season, because lots of folks need a reminder and to know that Children are funding this project and not the BIG GUYS, who get lots of good words and press.  Children Helping Children – this is a good thing.

Thank you for your considerations,
Patricia

*******

Dear Jeff Bezos,

Every year I give $100 to UNICEF – you know the Children’s Project of the United Nations.  I was not that generous as a child, but I did carry my donation box from door to door as I “trick or treated”  and I remember one year having nearly $20 in my box…

*******

Dear Jon Stewart,

*******

Dear Michael Pollan,

*******

Dear Bill Moyer,

*******

You get the idea…..which celebrity or wonderful cook do you know who could give a shout out and maybe a recipe to our e-book?

Time is running out – better do it right now!  Thank you!

Workshops  at  patriciaswisdom  dot com for submissions

Post from: www.patriciaswisdom.com

Brian Williams – I could use a little help here

ready for the party

This is a recipe that I just love and I adapted into an appetizer for a Halloween Party.

It is Gluten Free so also a favorite at our house.  It uses a great deal of zucchini, which can be a relief from the prolific garden.

I keep containers of zucchini in the freezer to use for ‘quick action’ to produce this food – when the cravings set in!

Crust:
2 pounds of zucchini
1 tablespoon honey
2 eggs, beaten
3 tablespoons Olive Oil
2.5 cups cornmeal
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 375’F.  Cut zucchini in large chunks and steam until tender (use very little water to steam).  Puree Zucchini.  Mix honey, eggs and oil with the puree.  Combine the cornmeal, salt, and baking powder, Min the dry and wet ingredients, stirring until smooth.  Turn into a greased large pizza pan until mixture is ¾ inch evenly thick. Bake for 12-15 minutes just until corn bread begins to pull in from the sides of the pan.

For the Halloween party, I used my custard cups and since I just have 4, I put them in the oven with 2 Serving Spoons full of the dough and then cooked them for about 10 minutes – cooled them about 5 minutes, turned them out of the cups and righted them.  I did this process 4 times which made 15 bite size pizza crusts.

Topping:
1 large onion, chopped
1 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 tsp. each of chili powder, oregano, and cumin
3 large ripe tomatoes, diced (I used cherry tomatoes for the appetizer size crusts)
1 medium zucchini, diced
Dried or fresh Basil (1/2 cup)
1.5 cups jack cheese, grated (or parmesan or pepper jack or mozzarella – you get the idea)

Options:
Make it without the cheese
Black Olives, sliced
Any other pizza basics you love!

Sauté onion in oil along with spices.  Spread onion mixture across top of corn bread, and then scatter zucchini and tomatoes on top.  Sprinkle with basil, then cheese.  Return to oven for 10 minutes.

I have two lovely huge pizza pans and one takes all the batter for the crust. If I need 2 pizzas then I must double the recipe.  Sometimes the middle of the crust does not cook well enough in the short original baking time.

Making them in the custard cups made for a better textured crust and were easier to re-warm and serve at the party.   They were quite the success and got rave reviews – especially the green color to the crust for Halloween delight!

ready for the oven

I am hoping you will think about your “love” food and submit a recipe and picture of something you love to workshops at patriciaswisdom.com  by November 1,2009 for the Unicef Fundraiser Harvest Potluck?

What is your favorite yummy food?

Post from: www.patriciaswisdom.com

Korny Zucchini Pizza

Fall Food

I am inviting you to an online POTLUCK of HARVEST FOODS.   Not just any old food – but food that you absolutely love – that melts in your mouth, that was made out of real food and that makes you feel satisfied and nourished.

The Potluck is on line on November 1, 2009, I need all the submissions by then, and it is to celebrate love of food and harvest. How to participate:

• Think of a food you love and that satisfies you.
• If you make this food, post the recipe and a picture. Send the link to workshops at patriciaswisdom.com
• If someone makes this food for you, please ask for the recipe and a picture – and permission (in writing) to write about this food and use the picture. Be sure to give the cookbook proper credit and due….and the author – we don’t want this to become bogged down in legal problems!
• Write a few words about how your love of this food fills your need and fuels your love.
• I will post as many links as I am able to your recipes on November 1 on Patricia’s Wisdom.
• Send 2 emails to workshops at patriciaswisdom.com
  • #1 That you wish to participate in the Online Potluck and the fundraiser;
  • #2 Include a link to your post and picture by Nov 1 and attach a copy of your post and picture. Please feel free to use a previous post and picture as a submission if you do not wish to post on November 1, the POTLUCK date, and are planning in being in the e-book.

My goal:
To reconnect with my LOVE of food and to feel satisfied
To do something for someone else to bring back the LOVE to food
To learn how to write an e-book and to sell it….for a small price (thinking $3-5) as a fundraiser to get food and medical supplies to children who really need some loving food in the New Year.

The money that comes from the downloading of the e-book will go to UNICEF Children’s Fund. All of the money will go to supply food and medications to children in need within the Global Community. (Administrative costs come from other funding sources.)

To all my non-USA readers: I truly believe sending a recipe and participating in this potluck will help those folks in the USA reconnect to real food. I just asked two chefs here in my town to participate – you never know until you ask!

Other links that might interest you:

UNICEF
Support UNICEF
An Invitation to a Harvest Potluck

Please feel free to let others know about this fundraiser and I would appreciate a twitter, or stumble or Facebook – Under the Share button – Thank you for your good comments.

Post from: www.patriciaswisdom.com

UNICEF Fundraiser Looking for Good Food