Zenful Kitchen

Zenful Kitchen

Recently I was asked why I describe my kitchen as zenful.  It is because I am intentional about keeping the feeling here relaxing and filled with calming energy. I love cooking by myself sometimes because it is easy for me to just cook and be present and not be influenced by the energy of others. It reminds me of an experience I had as a teen where I was sitting in a small rowboat in the middle of the lake by myself. I wasn’t rowing or anything. I was just sitting there in my boat, feeling the warmth of the sun and the coolness of the summer breeze. I just was.

That is not to say I don’t like having others in the kitchen with me; I do. However, I have to remember to maintain my peaceful presence in the midst of others so that the kitchen stays calm and relaxing.  If I am not the calming presence in the space, things can easily get pulled out of balance by others stress and need to be in control. If I don’t do anything, things can go wrong. So I stay the calm in the storm and restore balance, peace and that zenful feeling.

I remember a scripture in the New Testament where Jesus and the disciples are on a boat in the storm and everyone is panicking but Jesus who is sleeping through it. After they wake him up, he just looks at the storm and says peace, be still.  In the kitchen when I stay solid and calm, others do not panic and we are most likely to keep that zenful energy in my kitchen.

There are times that I have those rough waves and storms in my kitchen. Sometimes my friends want to help but get stressed out because of their own lack of confidence over what they are doing. The teacher in me has to remind them to breathe and have fun in the moment. This is how we learn and create amazing memories. In the midst of these moments, we learn how speak to the nervousness and say breathe, I can do this.  I have also had people try to boss me around in my kitchen because of their need to be in control.  Sometimes, I suggest we work together and collaborate, after all we are not in a competition. Other times, I delegate parts of the meal and act more like the conductor of an orchestra so that we all play together and serve up a meal that comes together in perfect harmony.

There are things which help me stay zenful in the kitchen. One thing is my remembering to take time to meditate and be at peace as I roll in. This is especially true when preparing a feast for company like I am this weekend. I remind myself to enjoy each moment and to infuse love into all that I make. I also envision the whole process so I know the least stressful and most enjoyable way to experience the day. I think about what I am doing and what it symbolizes, like how coring 5 lbs of apples for my apple crisp is an opportunity for me to think about my core values. I think about how the apples will be coated in ingredients which will help with their transformation and add flavor to them as they cook. I think about the vegetables I will be adding to my salad and what each one brings to the party I want people to experience as they eat. I try to remember that people experience love and comfort at the table in different ways. While I love my lasagna, I enjoy soup more (especially this time of year). Thus the menu this weekend will contain soup, salad, lasagna, garlic bread and a bubbling apple crisp with vanilla ice cream and homemade caramel sauce.

What I love doing most in the kitchen is infusing love and zenfulness into everything I make. I want everyone to not only taste the love but experience it. Each meal should be creating a memorable moment, one bite at a time. There is nothing like being at the table with those we love that nobody wants to leave. This is what happens in the zenful kitchen.

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sporlight

Spotlight

My dearest friends know I love watching cooking shows. I love them for a number of reasons but one is because for me cooking is deeply spiritual. I often find parallels between the spiritual lessons I have learned on my journey and cooking. For example, in some of the cooking competitions I can generally tell who is going to win by how humble they are in their relationship with the ingredients, the other cheftestants and the judges. Those who are egotistical rarely win and those who are humble usually do. 

What I have come to realize this week is that there are times we need to let others be in the spotlight and shine.  In all my years of teaching, I have always tried to help my students present and show off their talents. I have always preferred to be there to support them and gain their confidence. It is one of the reasons that I would have been horrible as a department chair, I just do not like being front and center. I prefer to help others shine and  be in the spotlight.

The same is true for cooking. I have developed this pension for Pan-Asian noodle dishes.  It is my new comfort food.  Udon or Soba noodles with a simple sauce and a variety of stir-fried vegetables.  This week I have been on a mushroom kick and stir frying a wide diversity of mushroom and some green onions and a sprinkling of sesame seeds. On the one hand this is a noodle dish, but the noodles are like me hiding in the background and letting the vegetables shine through

I am the same way with my Pampered Chef business. I want my team and my hosts to shine.  I see myself more as a conductor helping others have these amazing performances. I prefer to do what I do best but let the light shine on those I love and want to encourage.  At the same time, I am ever mindful that I am in the spotlight in the orchestra for which I am a performing member. I am grateful for those who help me shine, but I am most comfortable in helping others shine.

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Brewing

Brewing

Recently, one of my mentors, Robin Miller Shilling, shared a book called The Coffee Bean. If you have not yet read this amazing book, I strongly suggest you do so. It is an amazing story about what happens when we are going through one of those hot water moments in our life.

The book challenges us to consider whether we are carrots, eggs or coffee beans. Carrots become soft when you put them in hot water. Eggs get increasingly hard when you put them in hot water. Coffee beans, however, are transformed when you let them sit in hot water.  It is a powerful life lesson about how we allow challenges to affect. Do we allow them to weaken us, make us hard or transform us into the best we can be in the situation.

This morning, I realized the same is true for room temperature water as well.  We are not constantly living in hot water situations and moments. Most of our time is room temperature. So I wondered what would happen if I allowed a carrot, egg and beans to just sit in water. My carrot and egg remained unchanged. However, my coffee transformed, although not as quickly as in hot water.  My water still took on the color of the beans and some of the flavor.  Not only were my beans transformed, but so was the water in which it was immersed.

As I prepared to make some iced tea in my Cold Brew Pitcher I saw this pitcher as a vessel that, like the pot, facilitated my personal growth and transformation. It is a reminder that even when there are no challenges in my life, the Ultimate is still transforming and using me to transform the world around me.  Whether I am using it to make cold brew coffee, iced tea, or infused water, a difference is being made. Do you need a reminder of how we are each cold and hot brewed in our lives? Use our Cold Brew Pitcher.

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Consistency Compounds

Consistency Compounds

I love all the cutting tools we have with Pampered Chef. There is the Rapid Prep Mandolin which slices, dices, and juliennes. There is the Close & Cut the Quick Slice, the Simple Slicer, the Egg Slicer Plus, Garlic Peeler & Slicer, the Apple Peeler, Corer & Slicer, which make slicing various foods so easy and can save one so much time.  Of course, there are our knives, the Color Coated and the Forged Cutlery, which make any kitchen job so easy.

Over the years I have found myself using all my tools, especially the Rapid Prep Mandolin, as a way to save time in the kitchen. There is nothing wrong with that and I am grateful to do that. At the same time, I realized I could do all those knife skills myself, well most of them, if I practiced my knife skills.  I see chefs use mandolins to do very thin slices, so I know there is a time and purpose for everything.

It was the other day, however, when I was watching and listening to some of my favorite chefs, that I realized they were practicing something I teach all the time – consistency compounds.  I would sit in amazement of their knife skills, but realized those skills developed over time and with consistent practice. I have not developed the knife skills I want, not because I do not have the right tools, but because I do not practice my knife skills consistently.

I also came to realize there is a reverence to how they each handle the food during the process.  They handle the ingredients with reverence. There is a discipline and respect for each ingredient. I was struck by how they each held on to the root of the onion, for example, as they prepared it to be diced and chopped.  It made me question whether we hold on to the roots of our spiritual beliefs when we are moving through our cooking practices. Do I hold on to my roots when I am cooking? Do I embrace the basics? Do I think about what I am cutting, how and why?  Do I give thanks for the ingredients and all those who bought it to me? Do I honor the knives I have and those who prepared them so that I can slice, chop, dice, julienne and perform other skills with them?

Do I practice my skills with the discipline that I practice other spiritual disciplines?  Or do I call upon other quicker methods to help me achieve my goals?  There is a time and place for every tool.  However, if we want to grow and evolve in our kitchen skills, then sometimes we need to take the time to practice our knife skills so we can become more efficient.  Consistency does compound, so perhaps we need to become more consistent in practicing our knife skills.

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The Journey Home

The Journey Home

About 2 years ago, I took a vacation from blogging here. I had planned on taking a mini vacation, but then life happened and my kitchen sadly went from being the place I loved being in the most to a space I hated being in.  The change did not happen overnight; rather it was a gradual process that begin when we opened our hearts and homes to a family in need. I do not want to talk about them or what happened.  Today, I just want to give thanks for the journey and for having been surrounded by varying people along the way who slowly guided me back to the place where my kitchen is once again my space. It is once again the space where I breathe freely, where I come and go without fear, where my creative juices are once again flowing.  It is a space that looks nothing like what it did 2 years ago, as we are slowly remodeling and reorganizing it.

It is amazing what a few coats of paint can do as it gives a space a new look and literally washes away any physical reminders of what was. The new curtains have replaced the blinds that were broken and no longer functioning. The chair railing is giving an added dimension and focal point to the biggest wall and the color for me is so peaceful and calm.  It makes us want to come sit around the table again and stare into the prayer and meditation garden and just be.  Sitting there today reminded me how grateful I was to be able to sit there with peace.

Each time I experience the peace again, I find myself giving thanks to those who were with me during the challenging times and prayed with us as we worked at removing the negative energy that had managed to sneak in.  As I breathe in the peace, I give thanks for those who prayed with and for us during a challenging time. The power of others prayers for us will never be forgotten.  It is one of those expressions of love which we will always remember.

Those loving sources are still in our lives.  Yet at the same time, there have been new sources which have helped me find my way home in terms of my life and my relationship with food, with my body and with our kitchen.  I am grateful for my wife of 20 plus years now who has been with me on this journey as I have found my way back to plant based and vegan cooking.  I am grateful to my friends, who regardless of what they eat, have been supportive and encouraging about my eating what is healthy for me and my family.  I am grateful for being spared those who ask why we are once again moving away from animal products and back to where we both feel comfortable and home.

I am grateful for the chefs who came before me and have been inspiring me along the way. This time I am appreciating the convenience of plant based products I can purchase and will have them around for when needed, but I am grateful for the intention of taking the time to learn how to create my own. I have learned how to make my own smoked salmon out of carrots and my own cream cheese, something which was a valuable childhood memory and continues to be one of my comfort foods.  I am grateful for Mark fo Stash Sauce whose excitement for modernist techniques has helped me see that I can create and re-envision anything I want.  The only thing stopping me in my creative journey is me.

Perhaps that is why I have found myself wanting to listen to Will Yeung with Yeungman Cooking. He reminds me to “cook with confidence.” There is nothing fancy about his meals. They are simple, healthy, comforting and beautiful, all at the same time. He has reminded me how I can take the simplest of ingredients,  honor them, and give thanks for them. There is something about watching him cook that is a spiritual experience. There is a reverence to the way he approaches food and the process of cooking that leaves me feeling as if I am watching the Ultimate in the beginning.

Yet it was Will’s cabinets that were the final reminder for me of a dream I had allowed to die.  Now I am slowly decanting all my baking, grains, beans, and other products and transferring them to leak and airproof containers. This last phase will take time as we order the containers in affordable batches, but the transformation has been amazing already. The ability to look in ad see the colors of the various kinds of beans, lentils and other grains is like art. Even the colors of the spices is filling our pantry with beauty and a reminder of the artistic nature of the one I call the Ultimate. Now I get to see reminders of the Ultimate in my kitchen on a daily basis and for that I am truly grateful. 

I am excited to be ready to open up my kitchen and the spiritual lessons I am learning with all of you again.  Be blessed and welcome back to my Zenful Kitchen.

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On Vacation

i am taking the rest of July off from writing here. Time to relax, unwind, and release

Be Open to Learn

Zoe and I do not even an own a television anymore, so I get my cooking show addiction by watching shows and/or excerpts on YouTube. The other night I was watching a two part episode of Master Chef where Gordon Ramsey was teaching how to make a tarte tartin, which reminds me of Pampered Chef’s Upside Carmelized Banana Skillet Cake, but with a pie crust instead of a cake top. The second part of the episode was the home chefs making one, knowing that the worst one was the one would be eliminated.

There were more than a few that just looking at them, did not look edible or up to par. After going through them all, the judges were down to the bottom three. Fred was pretty sure he would be sent home. Sam was feeling the same and Evan knew his was amazing even though he was in the bottom three. If someone had asked me who I wanted them to send home, I would have said Evan. Why? Because there is something to be said for humility and being open to learn.

As a teacher, I am far more willing to work with with someone who is honest, has integrity, but is seeking to learn then those who think I have nothing to teach them and I am just a bad teacher who is not seeing their shear brilliance. For me Evan, was that latter student. Even as he walked out, it was about how awesome he was.

In order for one to gain new skills, one has to be open to learn. You have to be open to being a student and expanding your skill base. Whether it is associated with cooking or something else, being humble and recognizing you do not know it all is an important skill.  The other day I was watching an interview with Marco Pierre White, who mentored Gordon Ramsey, where he talked about how he is ever learning and evolving in his cooking. Whether one is a home cook or a professional chef, if you are not willing to learn and grow, your cooking will remain the same.

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Share a Meal

We are all busy.
we all have lives.
but we should never be to busy
to stop and talk
as we share a meal.

It is time to
turn off the technology and
be present with those we love.
We need to take time to sit, talk
and create memories
as we share a meal

Sharing a meal
is more than just eating the same food.
It is about sharing time
with each other,
creating memories
with each other and
honoring each other’s lives

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Food as Spiritual

I seem to have stumped quite a few of my friends with a simple, or what I thought was a simple question. What food do you consider spiritual?  I asked my wife and she looked at me like I had three heads. It wasn’t anything she had every thought of before. Made me wonder how many of us think about our food as spiritual.  Are there foods we think of as more spiritual than others?

If we thought about our food as spiritual, would we select it differently? Would we prepare it differently? Would we ingest it differently? If we thought about the sacrifices made by that which we eat, would we think about it differently? Would we make different choices in what we eat or where our food came from?

As I thought about these questions today, I found myself thinking about some of the changes I have made in my life recently. They may have been for health reasons, but they were also spiritual. So my reflection today, is not long, but here to challenge you to think about what you eat, how you eat it, where it comes from, how you prepare it and to recognize that everything we eat or drink is a gift that others have given so we may eat and drink what is before us. How does that change the way you think for yourself?

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Love

Jess S. Scott, in his book The Intern wrote, “When somebody loves you, the way they talk about you is different. You feel safe and comfortable.” I used this quote earlier this week as our thought for the day. We all know what it feels like to feel loved. For me it is like being wrapped in a blanket where I feel the warmth, safety and comfort of those who love me.

I could edit this quote a bit and say “When somebody loves you, the way they cook for you is different. You taste the love and the positive energy.” You may be able to think of a meal or a person whose food you can taste the love in. For my friend Tom, it is my Smac n Cheese. He and his wife drive 90 minutes each way for him to eat this. The look on his face while he is doing so is priceless. He consistently tells me he can taste the love. I am so glad because I do think about how much I love him when I make it for him. My friend Laura, who is no longer with us, would always request a tray of lasagna and a tray of orange brownies for her birthday. I would think of her and how much I love her as I made it and I would always be rewarded by that look and the smile and the joy that radiated from her as she slowly savored each and every bite. She would then take the leftovers home and savor them and make them last as long as possible.

I was at a vending event once and a woman told me how she hated chocolate chip  cookies and then she tasted mine. She was floored. She asked me what my secret ingredient is and I very humbly told her love. We are not always conscious of how love and the positive energy we carry with us while we are cooking changes the way we cook and the way the food tastes.

A friend of mine shared a story with me about a time he was cooking dinner for his family. It was a dish he had made hundreds of times. However, this time he was not thinking about his family and how much he loved them. Rather he was thinking about all the things on his to do list and the frustrating day he had experienced at work. As he shared nothing came out right. His mother asked him if he had a bad day. She could taste it in the food.

It is not about the complexity of what you are making, but the love and attention you pour into whatever you are making. So as you prepare to make your next meal for yourself or others, fill yourself with love and then start cooking.

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Y is for Yogurt and Granola Parfait

I love this recipe for a few reasons. It is simple, yummy, and balanced. Even though I work at home, I do not always have or take the time to make a well-balanced breakfast. What I love is that in just a few minutes I can grab some of the granola I premade, some berries out of the refrigerator and some Greek Yogurt and I have a great breakfast filled with protein and fiber, I can eat while I am working and sipping my morning cup of coffee.

The other thing I like about this is that with the Make and Take Snack Jar I have portion control at breakfast, which is one of those skills I need to work on in my life. I also have a balance of protein and fiber and I do not need to worry about what is really in my granola a I made it myself.

Making my own parfaits reminds me to maintain balance in my life, to make time for what is important, and not take on more than I need in my life. If you want to make these, here is the link https://www.pamperedchef.com/pws/sharonjacobson/recipe/Appetizers+%26+Snacks/Healthy/Yogurt+%26+Granola+Parfait/1113008 and you can find the Make and Take Snack Jars at https://pamperedchef.biz/sharonjacobson

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