business cards

In times of whimsy, or meditation, or perhaps personal crisis, I think back to a conversation I had once, a game of what-if in the future tense.  What if you had six lives to lead, what would you do with them?  Six completely different life-stories to imagine, six chances to span about as much of the breadth of human experience as six drops of water can spread out to cover the ocean, but these are the ones we get to choose, if reality was no obstacle...

I was brought back to this idea while watching a TED talk today by Wade Davis:

http://www.ted.com/talks/wade_davis_on_endangered_cultures.html

In his bio, it says he's a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, and automatically something in me lit up and said, yes, me too me too, how on earth do I get to the point where my business card would read:

Taisha Barton-Rowledge
Explorer

This conversation has evolved over the many years I've been having it, with new partners and perspectives to bounce my ideas off of, and to mirror back to me how my desires are shifting and growing.  In my lifelong struggle with concision (me being the girl who could practically take more time to cover the plot points in a novel than it would take for my captive audience just to go read the damn book), I like this idea of business cards.  If I could have just six business cards, how would I write them out?

Explorer.  Dancer. Truth-teller.  Mother.  Healer.  Listener.  Creator. Motivator. (oops. uh oh. I don't really want a business card calling me mother, because I want to be able to assume that role in all of these lives, but it seemed too important to leave out....) Eight lives? Can we have eight lives??! Maybe I should just say fifteen right now, I know I'll be adding more to the list.  Lover. Reader. Cook (Maker of Meals? Nourish-er?). Smeller-of-roses.  Teacher.  Sharer.

Well and then the trick comes always at the end, when you remember you have just one life, puny and magnificent, to fill with all these things.  Send me what you'd fill your business cards with.  Bon courage.

Sunshine helps with the philosophizing slant to things...

nourishment

There's something so undeniably nourishing about cooking wholesome, delicious, warm, homemade food.  It's a distinct piece of goodness to fold into your day, like reading on a park bench, or tickling a baby, or breathing deeply, or dancing around to silly music by yourself -- all of which, coincidentally, have made up parts of my day.

My past couple Mondays I've been lucky enough to get to participate in a rent-a-baby program (kidding, I've been babysitting) for my friend Kristin, a Norweigan working on her Masters here with her 2- and 4-year old kids, while her husband is training to go to Afghanistan with Norweigan NATO forces.  Sofie is four, and in full-french-immersion kindergarten, but Sigmund, my little bud, needs looking after while Kristin's in Monday classes, so I have to put up with all the hardships of cuddles, open-hand blown kisses, sleepy hugs, and extended tickle fights.  Life's rough.  Julian and I had babysat for both kids a few nights before Anders left, so the two of them could go out like a real couple, but I had a serious moment of revelation the first morning that I took Sigmund and we waved a tearful goodbye to Kristin -- er.... I don't speak Norweigan. At all. He's almost two, so he doesn't speak all that much either, but a lot more than me.  I definitely had no idea of anything he was asking for, let alone me being able to explain that Mama was only leaving for a few hours, but I promise she's going to be coming back!! So that took a little extra creativity, and I've learned to stretch my very very limited Norweigan well past its limits (a particularly proud example being my colored-pencil sketch of a blo hest -- that's assuredly spelled wrong -- a blue horse, who happens to be a character on Sigmund's favorite cartoon show, because that's about the only thing I could then describe after I drew it. yes my drawings sometimes need explanations).  The tickle fight this morning was key in the tiring us (both) out enough to need a noon-time nap, and, funny enough, tickles are one of those activities that span all language barriers.

But food! I was talking about food!  With market veggies I picked up yesterday...

Rosemary Roasted Carrots, Fennel, and Funghi

2 big carrots
1 bulb fennel
4 ish big white mushrooms (or any other kind you're excited about)
2-3 shallots
3-4 garlic cloves
olive oil
dried rosemary
sea salt

Cut everything up into, you know, pieces. approximately bite-sized.  Put in a roasting dish, cover with the olive oil and spices, toss everything with your hands so there's oil all over, put in the oven.  Roast everything for 30-40 min until the carrots are done (they take the longest, if you were really ambitious you could start with just carrots and then add the fennel and mushrooms after 10 min or so). Eat just like that, over some rice, cooled and on a salad, or with the tofu below.

Orange-Mango Rosemary-infused Tofu

3/4 of a package of silken tofu "cubed" (it's gonna end up in crumbly bits anyway, or you could use a firmer tofu if you prefer a texture that actually can hold itself together)
1/2 cup orange-mango juice (or just orange if that's what's in the fridge)
rosemary
oil (just a little bit)

Put everything in a pan. Sauté until the juice has reduced down a fair amount and the other things you're cooking are done.  Pour over the veggies from above, or just rice, or eat straight out of the pan like a caveman with hot mitts.

Pumpkin Oat Bread

The improv nature of cooking suits me better than the chemical precision of baking (yeah thanks, Mum)... so I sort just improv with the baking too.  It's never the same, but always some version of edible (thus far at least!).  This tuned out to be fairly flat, and chewy and warm.

Pumpkin, maybe half a kilo?  2 ish cups once it's cubed.

Oats. like 2 cups.
Flour.  mine maybe had lin seeds in it? or was whole wheat? I'm not sure. about a cup, with more added to make it not so gloopy once everything's mixed together. 
Baking Powder. a little bit.
Salt. a pinch,
Sugar. more than a pinch, to taste. 
Cinnamon. a sprinkle.

Milk. A splash - enough to wet the oats while the pumpkin is cooking.
An egg
1/4 of a package of silken tofu
A splash of fleur d'oranger
Raisins, nuts, chocolate chips, whatever you like.


Cook the pumpkin (I boiled mine, but roasting would also work, it's just a little slower) and drain and mash it.  While it's cooking, pour the milk over the oats in your big mixing bowl, so they can start to absorb the liquid already.  Throw in the tofu too if you like, or add it with the mashed pumpkin.

Add the rest of the dried ingredients, beat the egg and add it with the cinnamon and fleur d'oranger, and mix everything together.  Put it in a greased pan and bake until the knife comes out clean, approx. 30 min depending on how thick it is in your pan. Enjoy warm with ice cream or yogurt and maple syrup and a big cup of tea.  Bon appetit!