Care of your 100% Natural Soap

In the Bath:  There are a number of things you can do to lengthen the life of your natural soap.  The most important is to keep the soap drained of water after each use and away from the spray of water when not being used.   Another good idea is to leave the soap upright to drain instead of lying flat, this helps drain excess water from the soap.  Finally, some soap lovers like to cut the soap into halves, using one while storing the other.

`

Storage of Soap:  If you would like to store the soap until a later date, it is best to keep it wrapped in a paper bag in a cool dark place away from heat, sunlight and humidity.  Kept this way, the soap can last several months.  Some other fun ways to keep the soap is to put it in a drawer or linen closet as a beautiful way to scent your belongings….

*Colored tissue or printed papers can leach onto the soap, so it is best not to use these.               

Lessons in Exercise – The Present Moment (Part 1)

     I can’t say enough about the benefits exercise has on the body, mind and spirit.  To be in the woods hiking on a path can give such a sense of connection and peace.  It can be a way to still our minds, release our burdens and gain strength.  All things have the potential to teach us greater lessons, to be metaphors for life, and exercise is no exception.  The long wooded paths and the steep hills of Pennsylvania, which I have hiked, walked and run through over the years, have been a companion of sorts, teaching me about life and offering advice on how to live it fully.     
     We set out on a path with a goal in mind.  We want to get from here to there as quickly as possible.  Sometimes it’s this easy and sometimes not.  Sometimes, whether I like to admit it or not, my body is a little tired or there are bumps in the road.  I start to wish for easier terrain.  I start to wish things were different.  Why did I decide to do this any way? – (hahaha)  The long hill, the big one that I most dread, can at different points a long the way be arduous.  My legs set a slow but steady pace while my lungs work hard siphoning off as much oxygen as possible.  Over time, I have begun to realize that the way out is through.  Each step along the path is an important part of the whole. Maybe it’s time I stop resisting and begin accepting where I am.

     And so, to begin, I take a breath, open myself to the moment and observe things as they are.  I notice the sound of my sneakers striking the ground, the temperature and humidity of the day, the light, the shadows, the birds singing, the trees, and what I am feeling.  It’s here fully present in the moment, in the midst of all that is, that something changes.  A deep feeling of stillness and spaciousness comes over me.  I feel a sense of gratitude and connection.  In these moments it doesn’t feel quite as painful anymore.  The goal of where I would like to wind up becomes less of a concern as I enjoy this interesting new place I found.  

     We really only ever have this moment.  To understand this, in a deeper sense, is a gift.  And I for one am not sure that I ever remember this quite enough. If I did, maybe I would do more things with a lighter heart. Maybe I would really look at the world, at the people I love with all my senses.  Realizing it is only moments that make up our lives, changes our perspective on what is important. When I do remember, it is in those moments that life feels precious and alive.  I feel a deeper sense of connection to the world. I begin to see with clarity the sacredness and beauty inherent in all things.  
     We always have a choice in the moment to accept or resist, to love or fear.  When we find ourselves running up the long hills, lost in the woods somewhere, sweating it out, we can stop.  We can take a deep breath and let our bodies relax and open to the incredible richness of all that is.

Homemade Caramel Sauce.....Crazy Delicious!

1 Cup Sugar

6 Tablespoons Butter

3/4 Cup Heavy Cream

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

Serve over vanilla ice cream with a sprinkling of berries………….

Okay, I know, this recipe isn’t the healthiest….
The sugar, the butter ….the heavy cream….
But I can’t help love it…. It’s also incredibly easy to make and has only 3 ingredients!

To begin, add the sugar to a heavy sauce pan on medium heat.  Watching constantly, the sugar will begin to melt from the heat and caramelize.  I keep a close eye and stir as needed during the caramelizing process (as sugar can burn easily and quickly).  Eventually, the sugar will begin to melt into a thick puddle and turn a light caramel brown (you may have some sugar crystal build up on the sides of the pan, this is normal…no worries).  It is then, when the sugar has turned a golden brown that you add your butter and heavy cream, stirring constantly to incorporate all the ingredients into a smooth sauce.  This may take a little time and go through a couple of changes with consistency since the butter and cream will have cooled the sugar. But as the temperature rises again, it will begin to look like caramel sauce, and when it does……Wallah!  You’re done!

The whole process between prep time and cooking shouldn’t take more then 20 minutes.  It creates an elegant dessert topping that can be added over many things.  The sky is the limit with this one.  Caramel mixes and matches with so many things…. One of my favorite ways is to pour it warm over vanilla ice cream with a sprinkling of fresh berries,  simple, delicious and a little bit of heaven…….Okay, I know by now you know that I love caramel, but another great thing about this recipe is that you can make it ahead of time and store in the fridge.  Just reheat in the microwave or stove top when it’s time to serve………..

Enjoy!

Fresh Tomato and Arugula Pasta: Mmmm, It's so Good

     This recipe reminds me of summertime and being at my grandparent’s house.  We called it the farm because they had a few cows and land to roam. There was also a natural spring that we drank from, and in the summertime a large garden.  My grandfather was somehow able to harness the spring and had it run into an old bathtub that was situated in the fields below the house.  I’m not sure where the water went to from there, but it was the coldest and purest water I ever tasted.

      My grandmother loved roses, peonies and snapdragons, but also lilacs which my grandfather planted for her.  Her favorite was a sort of mauve with plum tones – she called it champagne.  

     The sun sat low in the front yard on Sundays after supper.  My grandmother was an amazing cook, ask anyone.  I always liked walking into her yellow kitchen greeted by the aromas of what was simmering under the pots or of what she was preparing on the counters.  There were too, the aromas, that even though faint, still lingered in the kitchen and gave a hint as to what she had prepared earlier, but had been put away, saved until later.  The genius to my grandmother’s dishes was its simplicity. The ingredients were fresh and flavorful.  She knew how to prepare food in such a way as to bring out the best of its flavor. It always seemed a kind of magic to me, how each time, she took a few fresh ingredients and made a meal…….

Salute!

Ingredients:

2 Pints (1.5lbs. – 2 lbs.)  Fresh Tomatoes – Diced

2 Large Garlic Cloves – Sliced Thin

Several Large Leaves of Basil Sliced into Ribbons >Learn to cut fresh herbs in a chiffonade style here:   http://localfoods.about.com/od/basics/ss/Chiffonade.htm

6 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3 Tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar

8 - 10 oz.  Fresh Mozzarella - Cubed

1 Cup  Arugula - packed

Salt and Pepper To Taste

12 oz. Pasta ( I use Rotini)

Directions:

Gently stir all ingredients together except for arugula and mozzarella and let sit for 45 minutes to 1 hour.  When ready, add the cheese and ¾  of the arugula to the tomato mixture just before serving. Serve over plates of prepared pasta with the remainder of arugula used as a garnish on top of each serving.   This serves 4 medium/ large plates (depending on what you think is medium to large.)  Careful for the ratios! The vibrancy and freshness of this recipe can be lost when too much pasta is used....  Also, the secret of this dish is in the ingredients; fresh,  great quality, flavorful ingredients are what this simple dish is all about.   Of course this recipe can be tailored made to taste just the way you like it!!!!

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm, Enjoy!

We will be adding recipes to the blog more often.  If you have any recipes to share, we welcome them…..you can post them in the comment area of the blog OR consider being a guest blogger!

Let's Dance: Marching To Your Own Beat

 "What a good feeling it is to follow the truth of your heart and how lucky for all of us when someone chooses to do so, to be different, because it liberates not only the individual, but all of us too."
-map to the imagination

Do you wanna dance and hold my hand? Tell me baby I'm your lover man. Oh baby, do you wanna dance?
Well do you wanna dance under the moonlight? Squeeze and kiss me all through the night.
Oh baby, do you wanna dance?

Do you do you do you do you wanna dance.  Do you do you do you do you wanna dance?

Do you do you do you do you wanna dance.

-The Ramones

Yes? No? Maybe?  

What propels people to dance?  Is it innate?  Something primal from the beginnings of time?  First a finger begins tapping, maybe a foot, and then the head or hips begin to sway back and forth keeping rhythm.  Sometimes rationale is overridden, the whole body leaps, surrendering to the music.  
     And bodies dance in all kinds of unique and interesting ways to their own style, rhythm and logic.  The dance and its movements strike a chord of meaning, feeling and expression from within the dancer. Together with the music, the dancer intuitively guides herself and her body through the song, as an artist guides his brush or a writer pens his words.  
    The music, the movement and the experience all have the ability to transport us somewhere else.  Or at times it can feel like a celebration of being alive and of life, an act of purely being in the moment, of something larger that we share with those around us; as if we all feel the energy and magic of the music and each other.  It is no wonder that in many cultures, dances and music are an integral way of socializing and sharing within a community.  I was at a concert recently where for most of the night people enjoyed the music while sitting in their seats until the artist began to play one of his more popular songs.  It was then, as if by some mass consciousness or tipping point when people couldn’t take it any longer, they began to rise up and fill the isles to dance.  The camaraderie between the musicians and the dancing revelers was apparent.  It seemed everyone felt larger, more of a community by sharing the experience together.

     It definitely takes some courage to dance in front of other people.  Although, some people dance without thinking too much about it, others need a little coaxing or encouragement.  Certainly, when we think of Elaine from Seinfeld, we can understand why.  I mean, we’re not laughing with her, but at her, right?  And pretty much enjoying ourselves too.  Part of our laughter comes from her funny, crazy dance moves and those wacky thumbs.  But maybe, we laugh from the uncomfortable feelings she brings up in us.  Those self-conscious, everybody is looking at me feelings that we probably have experienced before.  You know those times, when you dared to do something different, to be different.  Dared to turn left, when everyone else went right, dared to do the unpopular thing, but the thing that felt right to you. But what a good feeling it is to follow the truth of your heart and how lucky for all of us when someone chooses to do so, to be different, because it liberates not only the individual, but all of us too.

     While it’s not really much fun when others are laughing at us, I believe it’s important to cultivate the attitude that’s it’s okay if they do.  Because we know part of finding joy in this world is over coming our fears.  If Elaine is a dancing fool, she certainly is oblivious to it and a happy one at that..…that can’t be so bad…can it?  I say go ahead and laugh, as loud and as happy as you can.  And dance, dance anyway, to your own bliss, to your own authentic rhythm and logic of life and living!  Do you? Do you wanna dance?

      “While I dance I cannot judge, I cannot hate, I cannot separate myself from life. I can only be joyful and whole. That is why I dance.”

-Hans Bos

  

Kindness

.

    

     "And if we are lucky, sometimes there is a friend or maybe a stranger offering a little bit of kindness.  Take it, smile at them, hold it, and pass it on.  Sometimes, a little bit is all we need."

     Hello, Happy New Year!!  I have been asking myself for a good way to begin the New Year on my blog and I decided on the topic of kindness.  There are many recurring themes that you will probably see in my writing.  Kindness is a major one. 

     

 The wonderful thing about kindness is that at the same time, it is both simple and yet profound.  Ever stand at the shore and throw a pebble into the water?  See how the ripples get bigger and bigger and wider and wider until the circumference of them becomes larger than what we can actually see?  This is how kindness works in the world.  And if you stay at the edge of the water, just a little longer, sometimes you see, one by one, the ripples returning to the spot where the pebble was cast.  That is kindness coming back, but this is not why we do it.  

     Whatever stories we have about our life, whatever our life experiences, I am certain, there is one which was difficult to go through.  I’m talking about the kind of experience that stops us in our tracks, changes things up, and makes us re-evaluate what we believed  before.  It happens at one point or another to all of us.  Although difficult, times like these can transform us as they can be an opportunity for growth and reflection.  Out of our own struggles, we learn kindness and compassion.  From the depth of our pain, we find the voice of tenderness within.  When we understand that everyone shares this, that no one is exempt from the ebb and flow of life, we know we are not alone.  Ultimately, from our own experience with suffering, we are motivated to reach out and ease the suffering of another.  

     It is not just in difficult times that this is important. Kindness creates a better world each day. We just don’t know how far one kind gesture will go. That’s pretty cool when you think about it... When we choose to act out of the common bond we share as humans, we realize that what we do for another we are really doing for the planet, for the children, for humanity.  I don’t think anything expresses this better than in the beautiful poem “Kindness” by Naomi Shihab Nye.  
And if we are lucky, sometimes there is a friend or maybe a stranger offering a little bit of kindness.  Take it, smile at them, hold it, and pass it on. Sometimes, a little bit is all we need.

Peace,

Alyssa Sineni Truckenbrod

    Kindness
by Naomi Shihab Nye


Before you know what kindness really is
you must lose things,
feel the future dissolve in a moment
like salt in a weakened broth.
What you held in your hand,
what you counted and carefully saved,
all this must go so you know
how desolate the landscape can be
between the regions of kindness.
How you ride and ride
thinking the bus will never stop,
the passengers eating maize and chicken
will stare out the window forever.


Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness,
you must travel where the Indian in a white poncho
lies dead by the side of the road.
You must see how this could be you,
how he too was someone
who journeyed through the night with plans
and the simple breath that kept him alive.


Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,
you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.
You must wake up with sorrow.
You must speak to it till your voice
catches the thread of all sorrows
and you see the size of the cloth.


Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,
only kindness that ties your shoes
and sends you out into the day to mail letters and
purchase bread,
only kindness that raises its head
from the crowd of the world to say
it is I you have been looking for,
and then goes with you everywhere
like a shadow or a friend.

—Naomi Shihab Nye from Words Under Words: Selected Poems