BJP/Germany Klinik Trip/Recipe

I am so behind with my Bead Journal Project, where I'm suppose to create a piece a month, but it’s really okay. I finished my 3^rd bracelet for the year and will start my 4^th shortly, as I've taken beads with me on this trip. In my BJP blog, I wrote that I was skipping a month to catch up and then would go back to fill in the missed pieces, but I realized that I’m not actually journaling, where my bead embroidery is telling a story each month, as I've done in past years. This year I am using a different material for the center focus and working with color, so it doesn’t matter if this one is March or May. As long as I complete 12 pieces, I will feel I have fulfilled what I started out to do this year. The central focal pieces for my first two bracelets were fused glass and then pearls.

This piece’s focal point is porcelain, a Chinese pottery shard I actually bought in China.

I took my color scheme of blues and white (with a touch of gold) directly from the shard (obviously). I used pearls, Swarovski crystals and glass beads, with a plastic button as the clasp. I finished this piece a few days ago, but I was so busy getting ready for our trip to Germany, as I'm going to the Bio-Med Klinik for hyperthemia treatment, that I didn’t have a chance to write and upload the photo, which I took the night before we left on Thursday. 

Our flight was uneventful, the best kind; it's an 8 1/2 hour flight to Dusseldorf, and unfortunately the seats on AirBerlin are so close that Art was really cramped and uncomfortable. For me, as I'm so much shorter, it wasn't a problem. However, neither of us slept well or long on the flight. The important thing is that we arrived safely, if tired. We got our car and headed South to Heidelberg. We stopped in Koln (Cologne) to visit the Cathedral, which was well worth the stop, had lunch, and then we were both so tired, we rented a room, day rate, at the Hilton near the Cathedral, and slept for 2-3 hours; back in the car and we completed the drive to Heidelberg, another 2 1/4 hours.

It’s Sunday today and I'll be admitted to the Klinik tomorrow. We've been staying with a friend in Heildelberg, about 1 1/2 hr from the Klinik, as we wanted a few days to get rid of Jet Lag. Andrea works at the Heildelberg Schloss, which is a must see on any trip to Germany, if you are any where in the area; we went yesterday and took the tour of the castle. Today, while Andrea has been at work, we went to the Auto & Technik Museum in Sinsheim, less than a 1/2 hour away. It's an auto and plane museum, including farming equipment and tanks, as well as clothes and accessories from the early to mid 1900s. Verrrrrrrrrry interesting. Some of the old cars are ones we had never seen before, and all were in perfect condition! We would have gone to some gardens we were looking forward to seeing, but it's been cold and pouring all day. Maybe we'll still get the chance, as I believe we'll have time for sightseeing between treatments, but having no schedule at this point makes planning difficult. Just another challenge.

Okay - now for my Smothered Onion Pasta recipe, which I think I've written before. But if you didn't keep it, it's worth a second telling. 

Ingredients:

2-3 large onions, thinly sliced

6 Tbsp olive oil

salt

pepper

1/4 C white wine (or organic vegetable broth which also works well)

hand full of chopped parsley

12 oz to 1 lb of pasta, can use gluten-free

Parmesan cheese, if you eat dairy

Directions:

1. Put the oil in a deep saute pan over a very low flame (a 1-2 on an electric stove).
2. Put in the onions and cover. Cook for 45 minutes.
3. Start the water for the pasta & cook it according the directions on the package. Try to time it so the pasta is cooked when the sauce is finished. Better for the saute to wait for the pasta then vice versa.
4. Uncover the pan and raise the flame to medium. Salt and pepper the onions and stir. Don't worry if the onions have thrown off a lot of liquid. Cook until the onions are golden, about 10 more minutes.
5. Raise the heat to medium-high and add the wine or vegetable broth. Cook until the alcohol has evaporated, or, if using the vegetable broth, for 5 more minutes.
6. Add the parsley, stir, and take it off the heat.
7. If the pasta is finished, add the sauce and sprinkle on the cheese if using cheese. I serve the cheese on the side, as not everyone likes dairy. This is just as tasty without the cheese.

The original recipe was from a Marcella Hazan cookbook. This is one of my family's favorite dishes and it's so easy. Enjoy!!!!! 

Feb & Mar Bead Journal Project and recipe

It's been an interesting few months, and as you can tell, I'm a bit behind on getting my monthly projects completed. In Feb, I was told I had a recurrence of my cancer and it was inoperable, which is how I had managed my last recurrences. Chemo seemed the way to go, although it was not an easy decision, and one I had resisted for four years. So, my beading took a back seat. Although I had finished my Feb in Feb, we needed a new scanner which took a while. These two photos were actually taken with my phone. They are both brooches and pendants.

Feb, for me, has always been about love. I used the darker seed beads as my diagnosis was a dark one. So, we contacted the healing group my husband is part of, and the outpouring of love, support, and such great suggestions of complementary medicine to help support the chemo were incredible. I love using pearls and always have them on my pieces, whether it's jewelry or bead embroidery. I had thought I would use only stones, but this called for glass beads as well. The hearts are Rhodonite and Howalite, as well as red glass and clear glass with a green interior. I also used sequin flowers, as flowers and hearts go together too.

In March, I started my chemo protocol; so that month's project is a healing brooch/pendant. I have an angel looking out for me and a four leaf clover for luck. My sister, Karen L Cohen, also a member of the BJP, came to visit and that visit is represented by the buttons; our Dad was in plastics and buttons were part of his inventory. One of the buttons is the Susan button and the other is the Karen button; wonder who they were named after? My sister still had them (she is concentrating on dealing in buttons and is creating fabulous ones in bead embroidery, enamels, and metals and more) and gave them to me to use. The semi-precious stones I have used are red jasper for healing cancer, hematite for grounding, protection, and promoting new blood cells, mother of pearl for focusing one's attention, malachite for detox against tumors, tiger eye for courage to combat fear, pearls, for calm and beauty, stomach digestion and emotional stress, and turquoise for healing, balance, and strengthening. I added the believe charm, as I truly believe that the chemo is working and all will be well.

I hope to finish and publish my April one before the end of the month. However, we leave for Boston on Wed for my scan and then to meet with my doctor at Dana-Farber. We will know more then. In the mean time, here's a recipe:

Quinoa Salad

The basic recipe comes from a bag of Quinoa. Each time I make it, I change the vegetables I use. This was for the pot luck lunch we went to for the Chinese New Year 2012, Year of the Dragon, and I made one and a half recipes. All of the ingredients are organic, and it doesn't matter what vegetables you use, as they all tasted wonderful.

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

2 cups vegetable broth

1 cup Quinoa

4 cups vegetables and fruit combined:

     steamed broccoli, small florettes and stem pieces

     steamed zucchini, small chunks

     cucumber, small chunks

     red pepper, diced

tomatoes, diced

sugar snap peas, cut into pieces

mango, diced

edamame

½ large red onion, minced

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon coconut vinegar (can use any vinegar you like)

3 ½ tablespoons olive oil

Sea salt and fresh pepper to taste

3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted (can use any nuts, like almonds)

½ cup chopped cilantro

Instructions:

1.  Cook the quinoa with the broth as directed on package. Allow to cool. This could be done the day before.

2.  In a large bowl, combine the vegetables and everything else except the nuts and cilantro.

3.  Add the quinoa, nuts, and cilantro, and mix well.

4.   Taste and adjust the seasonings. Can be served cold or room temperature.

ENJOY!

September's BJP & Indian Food with Recipe

I finally caught up with my monthly Bead Journal Project Goddess Doll Pins. My September one is entitled Rainbow Goddess, which is pretty obvious once you see her below.

I created her with a big smile, as September was a great month. Rainbows, smiles, and spirals. I got a wonderful CAT Scan report - all clear, and I was able to go to the John C. Campbell Folk School and take an Indian Cooking Class for 5 days. 

I really lucked out, as my sister, Karen, was teaching a class on enameling there. Part of her compensation was a free class, which she couldn't take. Soooooooo, she invited me to join her and pick a course to take. There were several, but I've always enjoyed Indian food and I rarely go to an Indian Restaurant, due to my diet. Now, I can create my own dishes with ingredients I want to use and enjoy it all. So, I didn't do the quilting or hooking, rugs you know, and I didn't do the jewelry making with a blacksmith edge to it. Indian cooking caught my eye and there was room in the class. Yes!

The John C. Campbell Folk School is a really special place and space. It's located in SW North Carolina, about 2 hours from Asheville, near the Georgia border, and 2 1/2 hours from Atlanta. Apparently, the easier drive is from Atlanta, even though it's a bit longer. It has 300 acres total land, although only a portion of that is developed, and it's in Brasstown, NC, a population of 170. The buildings make you feel as though you are at Summer camp. Meals were delicious and served family style. I was able to stay with my diet, dairy-free, gluten-free, mostly vegetarian (chicken and fish). They had folks with all types of needs eating there. I didn't stay with my diet the whole time, but mostly. Their breads were all home made and fabulous. Karen tells me that the desserts were really terrific too.

The range of courses is unbelievable! Go check out their web site, as the link is above. Not every category has a class each week, and the school is open year round. So, if you like the cold, it's a winter vacation spot too. Get away for a weekend or week, be creative, and have fun. Everyone there was so warm and friendly.

My class had 9 students, two of them were men who loved to cook. We teamed up and it was amazing, as each pair who cooked together liked the same degree of "hotness," which hadn't been discussed before we paired up. Our first morning, Shan Singh, our wonderful instructor, had us roast both cumin and coriander seeds and grind them in a small electric coffee grinder, and put them into our spice box, which also included turmeric, chili pepper powder (cayenne), salt, mango powder, and black mustard seeds. The next thing we did was get baskets and go out to the gardens, where we picked mint and basil,  peppers, both hot and mild, tomatoes, and flowers for the kitchen. Our first day we made about 6 other items. Each afternoon, we had Indian music playing and we danced around the kitchen, good exercise, so it wasn't only cooking. With Shan was Gary, her husband, who made Chai twice a day for us. I had it the first day, and it was delicious, but I found it difficult to fall asleep that night. I'm guessing it was due to the caffeine in the black tea, as usually I only drink herbal teas; so, I didn't drink it again. Everyone else couldn't wait for the Chai to be made each time.

I'm not going to bore you with the rest of the week. Just know that it was great. Thursday night we had a party, where we could each invite two guests. Shan and Gary had enough Indian style clothes for all of us, and we were able to dress up for the party as well.  Every one had such a deliciously fun time.

This is one of my favorite recipes from Shan Singh ( She doesn't have a written cookbook but I think she is writing one. She does give classes in Atlanta):

Curried Eggplant (Baigan Ka Bhartha)

Ingredients:

1 large eggplant
2 medium or 1 large onions, chopped
4 tomatoes, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil (can use ghee or other oil)
1 tablespoon cumin powder
1 tablespoon coriander powder
1 tablespoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon chili powder (or less depending on how hot you want it)
Sea salt
Chopped cilantro for garnish

Instructions:

1. Pierce the eggplant all over  and broil in oven, turning after the first 10 minutes. This can be cooked in a microwave (which I don't use) for 10 min on high OR it can be cooked on a grill.
2. After the eggplant has cooked and cooled, remove the skin and mash the flesh with a fork.
3. Heat the oil on medium and saute the onions till golden brown.
4. Add the dry spices and saute for another couple of minutes.
5. Add the tomatoes and cook for another 8 minutes.
6. Add the eggplant and cook uncovered on low heat for 5 minutes, until the entire dish has a nice brown color and the oil starts separating from the vegetable.
7. Taste to adjust the seasonings if necessary.
8. Garnish with cilantro and serve.

The eggplant can be cooked much earlier in the day to make the preparations faster at dinner time. This can be served over rice, quinoa, or even pasta would work. YUM.

August BJP, Italian Goddess Pin and a Recipe

I finished my August Bead Journal Project, Italian Goddess Doll Pin, over a week ago, but hadn't had a chance to scan her. She's reminiscent of the rest of our trip to Europe.

I choose her colors of browns and greens for both the olive trees and grapevines, which were everywhere in our travels. Her face is a coconut button for all the palm trees we saw, which surprised me. I used a heart because I really love Italy. It's such a warm and welcoming country. The metal piece at her midline is an earring I found, on a Sunday morning, at a Farmer's Market and flea market in Panzano-in-Chianti, a small village near where we stayed in Montefioralle. 

We stayed for two weeks in the Chianti area of Tuscany, Italy. It was all about medieval towns, olive oils, and wines. Yum!!! The sightseeing was spectacular and the food incredibly fresh and delicious. It was difficult coming back to the States and buying tomatoes, even organic and heritage ones.

Since we've been home, I've been doing more work on my cookbook for cancer survivors and people with celiacs disease. Here's a recipe I developed while in Italy, which will be in the book.

Vegetable Montefioralle

The first night at our rental in Montefioralle, Tuscany, I didn’t know what to make. I had bought lots of vegetables, which were all so gorgeous at the Farmer’s Markets in both Lucca and Panzano. I went through what I had, picked out some things and made this. I served it over quinoa. It made a lot, so we had it for several meals. For another meal, I put it over rice pasta. A winner all around!

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

Olive oil

1 onion, diced

2 large leeks, sliced thinly

2 shallots, sliced thinly

1 large or 2 med cloves garlic, minced

4 large tomatoes, diced

½ green pepper, diced

1 Japanese eggplant, cut into 1 inch chunks

1 zucchini, sliced in half, length-wise, and sliced

3 sun dried tomatoes, sliced

Greek Seasoning (the Spice Hunter - http://www.spicehunter.com/)

     or use your favorite spices

Sea Salt

Dried basil

Dried oregano

Vegetable broth

Fresh oregano and basil

Instructions:

1.  Have all the vegetables cut and ready to cook.

2.  Put 2 tablespoons of the olive oil into a deep pan and add the onion, leeks, and shallots.

3.  Saute until starting to brown.

4.  Add the garlic and cook for a few more minutes.

5.  Add the rest of the vegetables and the Greek Seasoning, sea salt, dried basil and oregano to taste.

6.  Add the vegetable broth as needed to keep the vegetables cooking and not sticking to the bottom of the pan.

7.   When the vegetables are tender, add the fresh oregano and basil. Stir a couple of times and serve.

Bead Journal Project and Recipe

I finished my BJP Spirit Doll a week ago, but Google had made a transition and split my two accounts. I'm still not sure why. It took me a while, since I'm technologically impaired, to work out how to fix what needed to be fixed. Google IS NOT customer friendly, for those of you who don't know that by now. I have visions of moving but will not now; maybe eventually. This is an "Oh well!"

My June Spirit Doll, shown here, holds a lot of symbolism for me.

She is loaded with happiness. I had a clear CAT Scan and am very happy. Her peachy fabric says it all - life is peachy. I love roses and other flowers, so I picked a real rose under acrylic to use for her face. Making jewelry makes me happy, so I gave her a bracelet and necklace. I love suns and spirals. The large yellow flower was suppose to be the center of a sun with rays emanating from it, and it is but it's so much more, as I turned it into the center of a spiral as well. Her colors make me smile, as they are all about a sunny day and warmth; they even remind me of candy. I created a necklace years ago using these colors and called it "eye candy."

Here's a sweet happiness-making recipe for a delicious dessert I call:

Raw Nut and Fruit Cream

This is a recipe that I concocted one day for a potluck dinner. I wanted something creamy and fruity for dessert. You can use almost any mixture of fruit. I happened to have mangoes, blueberries and raspberries in my refrigerator. I'm making it for a party on July 3rd; however, I plan on using blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries as the party has a red, white, and blue motif. I'll be doubling it.

 Serves 6-8

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups of Brazil nuts

1/2 cup of water


3 tablespoons of coconut oil

2 packets Stevia (equals 4 teaspoons)

1 teaspoon of Agave nectar

1 tablespoon of organic vanilla


1/4 teaspoon of Celtic salt

3 mangoes, peeled and chunked

2 cups blueberries, washed

½ pint raspberries, washed

Instructions

1. Put all ingredients together, except fruit, in a blender or food processor until very smooth and creamy. Since I used Brazil nuts, there will be tiny flakes of dark brown from their skins; it adds to the visual impact.
2. Chill in the fridge for a couple of hours before adding the cut up fruit.
3. Serve in a large bowl or individual containers. Can use a sprig of mint on top.

Enjoy!!! Happy 4th of July.

Finally MAUI + recipe

Tomorrow morning early, we're finally leaving LA for Maui. We were suppose to leave on Monday morning, but last week I developed laryngitis and had no voice for three days - no pain at that time but it all developed over the next few days, sore throat, pain in both ears, drippy nose, and cough. On Sunday, we were having a few friends of Brian's over for brunch. We've been staying with our kids, Brian and Grace, who have been wonderfully supportive. I'was concerned that we had overstayed our welcome, but we were assured we hadn't. Unfortunately, Grace has developed some of the same symptoms.

It's now Friday. Brian also started to develop some symptoms before we had left. Grace had the great intelligence to go see her doctor immediately for an antibiotic, so by yesterday she was feeling a bit better if not 100%. Hopefully Brian will too. It was so wonderful staying with them. Art is feeling under the weather too. I haven't been good to those I love.

MAUI, we're here. We had to get up around 5am yesterday to get the car back and be two hours early for our flight. We had a quick bite at the airport. I had called American a couple of days before to see if they were serving any food. l was told they were and I ordered a Vegan meal, closest to what I usually do. However, once on board, we were told that they would have snacks for sale. I hadn't brought any food as I had ordered some, so it was a bit difficult. The airlines are really something these days - what a a difference from when we traveled in the 70s: free baggage, pillows and blankets in coach, meals served and could be ordered, to name just a few changes. I love to travel, so I need to just accept the changes, which I do. I usually bring my own meals with me, but due to the misinformation, I hadn't this time. It was very disappointing.

We arrived safely with only a somewhat bumpy ride to remember. Any safe arrival is a good trip! My ears were fine but are still clogggd. Hopefully, they'll both clear by the next flight on the 18th. Our first stop after picking up our car was a Whole Foods, directly across the street from the car rental. We were both tired, so it was a short shopping, just stuff for breakfast and lunch for the next day/days.

Our rental condo is cute, a one bedroom with full kitchen. However, I went to make my morning green shake, had all the ingredients in the blender, and the blender didn't work!!! Luckily, there was a couple across the way who were sitting on their balcony. I walked over with my unblended shake and was able to use theirs. I called my contact for the condo, and we should have a new blender by this afternoon.  Since I use it almost every day, this is a very good thing.

We have a few people to contact, friends of friends and also our Chi Gung Teacher, Bruce K. Frantzis has recently moved here. I hope we get to see them all. We're also looking forward to seeing some of the people who work with Bruce who also moved.

There is so much to see and do on Maui. Since we want to relax a bit and recuperate, we'll need to pace ourselves.

I'm reading a really good book, the third in a trilogy, Sunrunner's Fire, by Melanie Rawn. I really like her fantasy novels, which include dragons and a type of magic. I brought beading with me. When I complete my April BJP (Bead Journal Project) I will post it here for you to see. The shape has to be the same for for each month. I chose a goddess doll pin, and she's small. I've really been enjoying creating them. Here's January's doll, just to give you an idea of what I'm doing:

A fast recipe:

We had roasted veggies at Brian's one night, served over quinoa.

The Quinoa -

Brian added grated lemon and orange rind, some mint and cilantro, and a touch of olive oil, sea salt and fresh pepper, all after the quinoa was cooked. (A 1-2 combination of quinoa to water). It was delicious.

The veggies -

whatever amounts you choose

brussel sprouts

sun chokes (I'd never used them before and can't imagine why not)

onion

fennel

carrots

fresh garlic cloves

touch of olive oil, sea salt, pepper, and basil

Roasted at 425 for 1/2 hour.

So, that's it for now. Hope you are all enjoying your day whatever you are doing.

The Beginning

Okay. Here goes... I guess I need to start somewhere, but Im just not sure where that is. Food. I seem to be all about food. At least, that's what I'm told by my very good friends. It seems that no matter what else I do, and I do a lot, plus I'm writing a cook book, food always seems to be part of it.

We're (my husband, Art, and I) getting packed for a seven week trip and we leave tomorrow morning. All my stuff is out but not yet packed. So, maybe I should leave this for a bit later when I'm really ready to go.....

Part of my packing is also about food. I'm a cancer survivor, which I'll be blogging about too, so I follow certain parameters with my diet. Traveling is sometimes a challenge if you're watching what you eat. I'm taking certain items with me that may be difficult to find in New Zealand, or at least they will start me off down there, until I find my way around, such as cereals (I'm gluten-free), so I'm taking Puffed Millet and Quinoa Flakes, one cold and one hot, both very tasty and found at Whole Foods, a health food store. Also for breakfast I have a couple of different raw granola mixtures - although I don't usually eat dried fruit, which is in both, as dried fruit's natural sugar is more concentrated (I'm sugar-free, using only Stevia and Agave). I have crackers I really like, made of millet, brown rice, and flax seeds (www.samisbakery.com), and then several other items that need to be packed.

Resources will be shared here and in my cookbook. I'm toying with two different titles, and I may end up with something completely different once I've completed it. Here's what I'm thinking about:
A Wellness Journey Cookbook:One Cancer Survivor’s recipe for eating and being well with the spice of life
or
The Spice of Life Wellness Journey Cookbook

This cookbook will be for cancer survivors and people with Celiacs Disease who can't eat gluten. Of course it'll be healthy for anyone who wishes to use it, as each item will be delicious, so you don't have to be on a diet, or you can be on one like Art is, the See Food Diet, if he sees it he eats it, in order to use the book.

I design jewelry and do bead embroidery; here's a link to my website, Mermaid's Jewelz

Got to go for now. Have to make dinner and finish packing. I'm open to all comments.

Susan