Tomorrow is going to be extremely busy, and so I decided to toss up my Wordless Wednesday- Friday addition, one day early.
Earlier today, while we were in our back yard, my daughter found some insects that fascinated her. She bent down to take a closer look. She chattered excitedly about the flurry of activity going on at the anthill, and I snapped the above photo.
When I was around my daughters age, I started reading a lot about ants. They really fascinated me, and at times I would watch them for hours.
I really like that she is fascinated with insects (just like her mommy.) A few years ago, I purchased the book Insects: Their Natural History and Diversity. Thanks to that book (which is well over 700 pages) we’re able to identify a lot of insects. Which is perfect for our insect hunts.
Pop by Wordless Wednesday, Friday addition to view other participants.
Ok, so this post isn’t wordless. I never could hold to the Wordless part of Wordless Wednesday, forgive me?
The above picture was taken about an hour ago. My daughter and I were outside checking out the garden. She excitedly pointed at our blackberry bush and said, “Oh mommy, look at the blackberries!” I was happy to see the green blackberries. I cannot wait for them to ripen. I use them in a variety of healthy recipes; Smoothies, ice creams, salads, muffins, and main dishes too.
There are many ways I celebrate life, and one way is taking pictures. I enjoy capturing photos of whatever interests me. Surprisingly, at times, some of the photos interest others too.
I became fascinated with photography as a child, even have a few old cameras. As a child, it seemed I always had a camera in my hand, and was always snapping pictures. In my early twenties I took a break from picture taking, and it was unnatural. I felt naked without one of my cameras and returned to it with a vengeance. Naturally that means I have a digital darkroom at our home, and a few times a week (after my daughter is sleeping) you’ll find me there.
I’m still kicking myself for not snagging an old camera I found when I was visiting Gamla Stan – The Old Town, while I was in Sweden.
A few years ago, I created a website based solely on my photography. Learned a lot, took chances, picked the brain of many photographers I have respect for, and surprisingly enough sold a few pictures too. However, I mainly give them away to family/friends.
I’ve been an active participant with Wordless Wednesday, with many of my other websites and so it only makes sense to add Celebrate Life! into the mix too, right? Outdoor Wednesday is new for myself, and I look forward to meeting the other participants.
Although I take a lot of different types of photos, the majority of the photos you’ll see on this site will be nature or food based.
Creamy Dhal with lightly sauteed collard greens and tomatoes
Earlier this week, I wrote about the Chana Masala I created. It was fun to make, and my daughter and I enjoyed eating it too. I love Indian food. You’ll usually see me preparing at lest one Indian dish weekly.
Yesterday, I decided to create another Indian dish, this time I choose Dhal. My daughter and I both love Dhal, we don’t eat it as much as we might like. There are so many other delicious and healthy vegan recipes out there; I definitely don’t limit what I prepare. I like variety.
Initially, I didn’t know what I wanted to accompany the creamy Dhal. There are so many choices; potatoes, zucchini noodles, rice, carrot salad, etc. but I finally decided on collard greens. Collard greens, along with many other dark leafy greens, are plentiful in our garden. Additionally dark greens are delicious and nutritious too. Don’t overcook your greens. Trust me, they taste great! I headed to our garden and picked four large collard greens. I stepped over to our row of onions and pulled up one yellow onion.
Once I was back in the house, I grabbed my favorite stainless steel skillet, added some olive oil to it and started to lightly saute four cloves of garlic, three basil leaves, and some freshly ground cumin seeds. I must say, the aroma that filled the house was heavenly. 🙂 After a few minutes I added one freshly chopped yellow onion. Once the onions turned clear I stirred in the collard greens and tomatoes. I lightly cooked them for about three minutes.
My sauteed collard greens with tomatoes served as the bed, and I topped it with the creamy Dhal. I like creating dishes that are on the table within minutes. If I didn’t count the cooking time of the Dhal (lentils), this meal was made in less than fifteen minutes. It was short on prep time, but definitely not lacking flavor-wise. I made enough for leftovers! No surprise there, since I usually do.
In yesterdays post, I mentioned that I’d be attempting to post one recipe weekly. In addition to that, you might see posts of the food I eat. In many cases, I won’t post a recipe at the time, but eventually it might get here at Celebrate Life!
After all not only am I posting the recipe via MarsEdit. I’m also storing the picture in MacGourmet Deluxe. As I mentioned in an earlier post, MacGourmet Deluxe is a recipe and wine management software program devoted solely to the Mac platform.
A few days ago, my daughter asked me what was my favorite cuisine? I was stumped, there are so many different types of cuisine I enjoy. I couldn’t narrow it down to just one, but three of my favorites are; Caribbean, Indian, and African.
You want to know something? I’ve been finding it hard to sit down and write down the vegan recipes I create.
A few years ago, I created a vegan cooking website where I created and posted Vegan recipes. Thanks to a personal website I owned, I had gotten into the habit of writing down the measurements of whatever I prepared so now it’s simply a matter of doing that again. I’ll admit it’s not easy. At times when we break a routine, it can be hard getting back into it again, yah know?
I’m not one to follow a recipe; I’ve always created my own, when I was a little child I took directions from my mother. I’ve been doing that since I could remember. During childhood, I can think of many bombs I made in the kitchen. I wasn’t afraid to explore, and try new ingredients in whatever I created. However, as I got older that didn’t happen, I knew what would work.
I guess that’s understandable; I’ve been cooking for 35 years now and I enjoy being creative. I first learned to cook on a wood stove. I started cooking when I was four years old. Naturally, I was supervised at that age, and for a few years after that too. I can still remember the excitement I experienced creating simple meals that people actually enjoyed eating! These days I’m passing my love of cooking on to my daughter. It’s wonderful to see that she truly enjoys being creative in the kitchen.
Even though I don’t follow recipes, I do have a lot of recipe books. I find it inspiring to read what others are making, reading their thoughts on techniques, and listening to the stories they have to tell.
Since I’ve always come up with my own recipes I do find it hard to take the time to write down what I’m preparing. My natural tendency is to just create, but I’m trying to change that. Again, I find myself trying to remember to write down the measurements as I cook, so I can pass on the created recipe to others.
The good news is I remembered to do that with the Chana Masala recipe I made earlier this week, so yes Janet I’ll be posting it on Celebrate Life! sometime this week. 🙂
If you like creating jewelry, or simply love looking at pretty things be sure to check out Janet at her virtual home, Singing Woods. Janet’s a jewelry maker and has created some gorgeous pieces, and yes she has an Etsy shop too.
All right back to my cooking ramble, the Chana masala I made a few days ago didn’t last long in our house. It was delicious when it was hot, and amazing the next day when I served it as a cold dip.
Oh, one last thing… I’m publicly challenging myself to post at least one recipe per week on this website. Initially, it will be tough but after a while I know it won’t be an issue.
About fifteen years ago, I was introduced to really amazing Indian food. Of course, I had tasted it before but it was the watered down Americanized version that frequently plague restaurants.
Although the Indian cuisine I tasted was fine, I wasn’t thrilled. Fast forward a few months later when I started dating a man who just happened to be from India. At that time, they had lived in the USA for about 15 years. A few months after we started dating, he introduced me to his mother.
I recall being slightly nervous, wondering what she would think of me. I knew his mom wanted him to date an Indian girl, and I definitely wasn’t that. His mother wore saris which I’ve always loved and she made the most amazing traditional Indian dishes too. The first few moments were slightly awkward, but as we started chatting We discovered that we shared a few passions; Cooking and gardening. It wasn’t long before we became friends.
I learned a lot from her, asked numerous questions and soaked in all that knowledge. She opened my eyes to a new world of spices, tastes, flavors, new techniques, and a multitude of recipes. Which was perfect for a foodie like myself, right? The boyfriend and I eventually, parted ways, on friendly terms, and the mother and I? We still keep in contact with each other.
For the past few days, I’ve been craving Chana masala. I haven’t made this dish since my daughter was about two years old and so yesterday I gathered up the ingredients, pulled out my stainless steel skillet and switched into creative cooking mode.
Although I love colorful and flavorful sauces that accompany quite a few of the dishes, I create. I also love the dry dishes too, and the Chana Masaa definitely delivers here. For those who aren’t aware, Chana Masala is a fairly dry dish, it’s overloaded with chickpeas (garbonzo beans), it has an abundance of fragrant spices, combined with the slightly sour citrus taste that I love.
As I prepared the Chana masala the aroma from the spices filled the house and my daughter came bounding into the kitchen wondering when the meal would be ready. I smiled and said,”It won’t be long now!”, not satisfied she perched herself on a bar stool and watched while I finished preparing the meal.
The Chana masala was amazing. I savored mine, while my daughter gobbled hers quickly. We had a great time hanging out together & bonding while we ate that Chana Masala. What made it even better was knowing I had made enough for leftovers…
Technorati Tags:
Recipes, Vegan, vegetarian, Vegetarian, whole food, Chana Masala
Would you believe my daughter has started counting down the days until the Fourth of July?
This has been going on for a few weeks now. Several times daily she tells me how many days are left before we go away on vacation.
Fourth of July and Thanksgiving are two holidays she looks forward too even more than the others. The reason is simple; we’re around a lot of family. A very large family… My mother has 16 brothers and sisters, and most of them pack up and make the trek to South Carolina.
Why South Carolina? Well that’s where they were raised, with the exception of one, all the children (all right so they aren’t children anymore) have moved to other states. It’s still a familiar spot, time to gather around the now small house and talk about old times, catch up with one another, speculate and at times debate current events, and chat about future endeavors too.
I really enjoy chatting with many of the family members. I only get to see twice yearly, sure we catchup with each other via phone and email but, it’s not the same, yah know? Hanging out in South Carolina is a welcome change and for me it’s a time for me to relax a bit.
Things move slowly in that part of South Carolina, real slow… It’s a time to soak up the good ole sun-baked lazy days of summer vibrations. With a touch of crazy tossed in — come on now we all have at least one crazy family member, right? Even with the token crazy, I still enjoy the family bonding and good natured ribbing too. It’s also a great time to remember how fortunate I am and to celebrate life.
For my daughter it’s a time to hang out with a lot of cousins, dare one another to do off the wall things before the grown folks catch on (yeah nice try kids, that never works) and basically play games, be silly, and just be a kid.
Who can forget the fireworks? Our family is really into that; Big fireworks, little fireworks, sparkly things, rockets, you name it we’ve got it. We set of tons of our own fireworks yearly. Who needs to go see a show, when we provide our own?
I guess I can tolerate the daily countdown. I have to admit it’s hard not getting caught up in the whirlwind of excitement my daughter is generating. We have 11 days to go, let the countdown continue…
Europe: The Final Countdown
Lyrics: The Final Countdown Songwriters: Tempest, Joey
We’re leaving together
But still it’s farewell
And maybe we’ll come back
To earth, who can tell?
I guess there is no one to blame
We’re leaving ground
Will things ever be the same again?
It’s the final countdown
The final countdown
Ohh
We’re heading for Venus and still we stand tall
‘Cause maybe they’ve seen us and welcome us all, yea
With so many light years to go and things to be found
(To be found)
I’m sure that we’ll all miss her so
It’s the final countdown
The final countdown
The final countdown
(The final countdown)
Ohh ho ohh
The final countdown, oh ho
It’s the final countdown
The final countdown
The final countdown
(The final countdown)
Ohh
It’s the final countdown
We’re leaving together
The final countdown
We’ll all miss her so
It’s the final countdown
(The final countdown)
Ohh, it’s the final countdown
Yea
Technorati Tags:
Family, Independence Day, Fourth of July
Just dropping a note to all the wonderful men out there who just happen to be fathers, or are a father figure. You’re definitely appreciated.
I would like to take this time to personally thank my father. Who’s done a lot for me over the years.
Dad, I really appreciate the support and love you’ve given me over the years. You were a tireless worker, who made numerous sacrifices for my brother and me. Of course, you aren’t perfect (who is) but you’re the perfect dad for me. Thanks for being a great dad, and being the only ‘dad’ my daughter has ever known.
My daughter’s father killed by a drunk driver while I was pregnant, so she never met her father. He was a great man, and I know she would have loved him as much as I did. You could say my dad is a father figure/grandad for my daughter. Thanks dad for spending the time with my daughter, and making her feel special too.
. Thanks to that book (which is well over 700 pages) we’re able to identify a lot of insects. Which is perfect for our insect hunts.
You want to know something? I’ve been finding it hard to sit down and write down the 
Would you believe my daughter has started counting down the days until the Fourth of July?
Just dropping a note to all the wonderful men out there who just happen to be fathers, or are a father figure. You’re definitely appreciated.