One of My Weekly Pleasures

Farmers’ markets are a pleasure that we just cannot deny ourselves.  It feels wonderful to know that we are eating healthy and supporting the local economy.  The farmer’s market in Encinitas is a colorful display of organic fruits and vegetables just beckoning us to “come taste and take me home”, which we do and always walk away spending more than we had intended.

I am always on the hunt for nutritional finds and it was to be the jujube fruit on this trip.  Also called the Chinese date, it is a small fruit with red skin, whose inside is similar to an apple.  It tastes best when dried; is an excellent source of vitamin C; and has long been considered a sleep aid according to Chinese alternative medicine.  A bag of them finds their way into my cart.

Being a great lover of artisanal cheeses, farmers’ markets are a great place to find these local delicacies.  Spring Hill Cheese, in Sonoma County, provided some creamy, pungent samples of their cheddar.  What sets them apart is their certified organic designation; use of Jersey cows instead of Holstein, producing richer, higher nutritional cheeses; and creation of “truly raw” cheeses, never bringing the milk over 100º during the cheese making process.  This cheddar will pair perfectly with a spinach quinoa salad recipe that we love.  My taste buds are already singing!

Terry and I have become hooked on Lära Bars, discovered some time ago while searching for healthy hiking snacks.  When I stumbled upon recipes for homemade Lära Bars, I was in heaven.  They are unbaked treats that come in many, many flavors, with typically only 4 or 5 ingredients, allowing for a quick sweet-tooth fix.  The sweetener base is dates instead of other processed sugars, and ground nuts instead of white or wheat flours.  Finding dates at the farmer’s market, I knew what I would be whipping up later in the day.

Here are a few of our favorites:

• Key Lime Pie
• Chocolate Coconut Chew (aka Chocolate Coconut Macaroon)
• Jðcolat Chocolate (aka Hot Fudge Brownie) 

NOTE:  I use twice the amount of lime juice as called for and unsweetened organic coconut.  I also just roll the batter into bite-size balls, place in a container, and pop into the frig.  Quick, tasty little decadent treats!

I am already looking forward to next weekend and new discoveries.

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“It Never Rains in California…”

“It never rains in California, but girl don’t they warn ya. It pours, man it pours.”  Albert Hammond’s song was going through my head as I looked out the window this morning.  Of course, his song was not about the weather but of a struggling songwriter who moves out to California to pursue his dreams, never does, and begins his downward spiral.  Nonetheless, if I stay inside today my mood may begin to deteriorate to the color of the sky – gray.  So before I can  talk myself out of a chilly walk on the beach, out the door I go.

Heading north up the beach, this is what the sky looks like.  I just hope that Mother Nature decides to wait a bit before releasing her fury in the way of big, bone-chilling raindrops.  Right now it is not looking too promising,

I decide to make a stop at the Meditation Gardens at the Self-Realization Fellowship on my way up the beach.  Looking up at it from the beach, it appears as a little oasis on the hilltop, and it is. The real treasures are hidden inside the grounds, lush gardens of flowers, burbling little waterfalls cascading over rocks and koi awaiting feeding time.

After spending a little quiet time I continue up the beach, enjoying the beauty of the constantly changing colors of the sky and the ocean, as the sun shows herself for brief periods.  When it is time to turn and head towards home, the sun decides once again to make herself known, this time in the most unusual of ways.

With the sun shining on foam that has been washed up on shore by the churning of the ocean, a rainbow of colors appears.  I am instantly taken back to my childhood, standing outside on a warm sunny day, blowing bubbles. This image brings a smile to my lips, no matter what the weather outside.  And the best news of all, I am still dry when I step back into the RV.

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The Lovers’ Holiday

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, the holiday for lovers.  I realized that I didn’t know the true origins of this holiday so thought I should do my homework .  A quick Wikipedia check provided me with the following information:

Saint Valentine’s Day was originally established in 496 AD by Pope Galasius, honoring early Christian martyrs by this name.  In 1969, Pope Paul VI removed it from the General Roman Calendar of saints, perhaps because our present-day celebration of this holiday no longer resembles its original intent?

In the Middle Ages Chaucer was the first to associate February 14th with romantic love.  As early as the 15th century, Valentine’s Day became an occasion when lovers expressed their affections for each other with flowers, sweet treats, and greeting cards.  Not much has changed over the years, except maybe the amount of money shelled out on this holiday.

As has become the case with other holidays, sometimes commercialism gives us an easy out, by expressing for us through a greeting card or a gift what we don’t take the time to say ourselves often enough, just a simple ‘I love you’.

I have had the good fortunate to be married to a wonderful man for the past 21 years, a devoted husband who, for whatever reason(s), has put up with my crazy, neurotic ways.  In spite of them all, he respects my individuality, as I do his.  On this most romantic of holidays, it seems a fitting time (perhaps not the most conventional way), to honor the man he is and let him know how blessed I am to be his wife.  I love you honey!

Although this is the day devoted to lovers, shouldn’t every day be about honoring those we love?

Happy Valentine’s Day!  ♥

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Why Are Some People So Mean?

Pregunta del día – why in Spanish you ask?  Well, I promised myself that I would continue to practice my Spanish after our year of travel in Mexico and I have yet to sit down and do it, so indulge me a little, ok?  By the way, if you haven’t figured it out yet, it means question of the day.

So, my question of the day, and one that comes to mind quite often, is why are some people so mean?  We all know the Golden Rule, right?  Do unto others as we would have others do unto us.    It seems like such an easy concept but much more difficult for many to put into practice.

I remember back when I was a young, eager manager, working with the public.  I decided to have a staff meeting and one of my first reminders to the staff was the importance of treating others as we would like to be treated.  Something our mothers taught us and simple, right?  Everyone should just nod their heads in agreement now and I can move on to other business.  What I got instead was the big eye-roll.  What the heck?!

We certainly can all theorize over why people are so mean.  So let’s start by laying out some of the reasons for this behavior:

• unhappiness with our own lives
•  emotional or physical pain
• fearfulness
• jealousy
• anger
• low self-esteem

There are any number of reasons, or excuses, some might say, for why we are mean.  It is true we are products of our upbringing but this becomes a tired, worn-out expression, doesn’t it, when we use this as justification for being so hateful to others.  To me it just feels like I expend more energy being mean (and yes, I can be) than when I practice compassion.

Martha Beck, PhD and columnist for O Magazine, wrote a very interesting piece on the subject, addressing how we can and should respond to those mean-spirited people we meet in our lives.  No, you guessed it, we shouldn’t slap a “Mean People Suck” sticker on our back bumper and call it good.  There are much more fruitful ways of empowering ourselves.

Given the world we now find ourselves in, it is not surprising to hear more reports about bullying, domestic violence, hate crimes, and child abuse popping up in the news.  Sometimes I’m shocked I don’t meet more hateful people than I do!  I’d like to think that maybe it has something to do with how I treat people (for the most part, lest you think I have a Mother Teresa complex, or something).

Since I can’t fix anyone else (and goodness knows I’ve tried!) I choose today to practice compassion with everyone I meet.  Given that it is an overcast, chilly day (a good day to stay indoors), one of the few I will see today is my husband.  What a lucky man he is, at least for today!

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Random Thoughts

Some days are just slow, with nothing exciting to report or maybe just a day meant to be mellow, more turning inward than looking out.  On these days I refuse to be one of those bloggers that will take you through pictures and a lengthy dialogue of how I organized my kitchen cabinets (have actually seen one of these done in great detail).  But I might have some random thoughts I would like to share, and in these moments I would love to hear from some of you, to get another perspective, or hopefully many.  That is how we learn, isn’t it, by communicating with each other?  Hmm, what a lovely concept!

I have added another tab across the front page of my blog for these times and I would love, love, love to hear your thoughts as well.

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