Simply Being | Simple Being

Tag: winter (page 1 of 1)

Winter Yearning

I am looking to find a name for this yearning,
that emerges on a late winter night,
or early dawn.

When it gets cold and chilly, and the desire for comfort commingles with the one for warmth and closeness,
Hands go forth searching, the fingers clasping, curled up into each other,
Bodies curve inward, fitting like two crescents, soft and curved, curled and shaped.

The comforter and quilt and warm woolen blankets all get merged and layered,
coming together, never pulling apart.

It is the state between sleep and wakefulness, it is a half-dream, a silent conversation,
It is home and warm breaths and half-murmured imaginings, am I dreaming or is this real?
Perhaps I am recounting a dream.

But now I am gone again,
and we drift off into this half-lit, humidified quiet, warmed and whirring heater space.

Halloween Healthy Goodie

When J announced that she’d bring her little daughter over for Halloween trick-n-treat, I knew that I couldn’t give her the horrible candy that goes around this time of the year. I wanted to make a little dried fruit and nut treat. J hadn’t gotten the little one started on nuts yet, so I’d have to skip on the nuts. I asked if she’d eat coconut but they hadn’t begun feeding her that either. So coconut was out too.

Let’s keep it simple, right?

I picked Nupur’s recipe for Date-Nut Slices, tweaked it and tweaked it and then some more… and then came up my own nut-free version.

Chop roughly 1 cup of dates. I used Medjool. They’re very soft and fleshy. If you use a drier variety, then you may need to soak them for a while so as to soften them. I had 4 dried figs, so I added them as well. Remember to get the pits out for the dates! Ghee is so good for you and little M is okay with it. So I warmed a couple of teaspoons of ghee, added the chopped fruit and began to stir it. I also threw in a smidgen of salt and half a teaspoon of dry ginger powder to add some heat and cut the sweetness. The fruit breaks apart and then becomes a delicious mess. Keep stirring until you achieve a homogeneous consistency. Take it off the fire. Let it cool. Now make a log of it, cover it in plastic wrap and keep in the freezer for an hour or more. Take it out, cut into slices, serve.

There you go – a delicious and healthy snack that is so good for you!

As we approach winter, it is important to consume foods that are warming and provide lubrication to our internal organs and joints. Both fall and winter are dry seasons; so it is vital that we include dried fruit and nuts (please soak before eating), ghee, olive oil, flaxseed, sesame, ginger and other “warming” foods in our regular diet.