eshepickett, Author at Eshé Nayo

Sabbatical: Push

By eshepickett on Wednesday, November 20, 2013

I spoke to a friend tonight who, after 8 years of desperately wanting to leave, finally put in her two weeks notice at work. She confessed that she was waiting to be fired or laid off. The proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back, was a situation that exposed the extent to which her contributions and work ethic were not valued, and that was just the push she needed. This reminded me of a moment I had written about while on sabbatical.

September 26, 2013:
No matter how badly you want to leave where you are, sometimes, you have to be pushed, literally. I went zip lining yesterday and at one point we did a “Tarzan Swing.” Looking out over the beautiful expansive forest I could only think of one thing — this is high, I am afraid. The staff on either side of me assured me that I was secure and to squat a little, place my hands on the rope and…jump? No. I planted my feet and did not move. That’s when I felt a knee in my back and I was gently, but firmly, shoved off of the platform. My scream quickly morphed into laughter as I began to oscillate back and forth over the Monte Verde Cloud Forest. I was having fun. I would have stayed on that platform forever, paralyzed by fear if left to my own devices. Then I watched as, one by one, everyone who came after me experienced the same thing. They had to push everyone! The self preservation instinct to stay where it was safe had stymied everyone, even the strong guys.

Being pushed from the platform in Monteverde

The sabbatical lesson? Jump. In my life I am striving to jump. I don’t want to wait to be pushed, but rather (I want) to have the confidence, the faith, that if I take the leap, not only will I be secure, but I just might have the time of my life doing it.

Selah.

Travel

Sabbatical: Strange places, familiar faces

By eshepickett on Sunday, November 3, 2013

It turns out that it is a small world after all.

I don’t believe in coincidence and so when I run into someone multiple times, I take note and make certain to exchange information, because I believe there is some significance in the meeting. I expect that I will encounter people that I know in my home town, the last thing that I would have expected was for this to be a common occurrence while vacationing. Here are a collection of stories that illustrate just how comforting it is to reconnect with familiar faces, in unfamiliar places.

The first night I arrived in San Jose, Costa Rica, I met Patrick, a jokester from Germany who liked to tease me incessantly about the Walmart loving, burger eating, gun-loving, truck driving Americans. We were both beginning our journeys. On our last night in San Jose before striking out for other areas of the country, Costa Rica won entrance into the World Cup. To say that they were excited, would be the understatement of the century. The entire Country celebrated, and we just so happened to be positioned a few short blocks from the mayhem. It started with an eruption of cheers and before we knew it, the street in front of the hostel had been transformed into an impromptu parade, complete with drummers, vendors selling paraphernalia and vuvuzelas. Together, Patrick and I decided to join in the revelry. Traffic had come to a standstill, and no one seemed to care. The street was filled with people high fiving, hugging and jogging around the traffic circle chanting “Ole ole ole ole…Tico, Tico!” This continued for hours. I have never seen anything like it.

Patrick and I at the traffic circle in San Jose after the World Cup berth

That same night when I returned, a few new people had come to the hostel. Ana, also from Germany, had arrived and was chatting with a few other travelers on the couch in the common room. Each of her sentences was punctuated with an animated gesture and a bubbly smile, I liked her immediately. We ended up chatting until 2:00AM about where we intended to go and what we would like to do while in the country. I gave Ana my email address and told her to send me a message so I could let her know what activities or experiences I encountered that I liked, since she had arrived without a plan. When I left the next morning to travel to Arenal, I said a brief goodbye to Annette, a hostel employee from Boston whose parents were originally from Portugal.

Upon arriving in Arenal, I met a couple from Texas who twice provided a much appreciated ride in their rental. We bid each other a fond farewell after a couple of days and I proceeded to the next leg of my trip, Cartago, where I would spend the weekend with my good friend, Irene. She introduced me to her bestie; a Biologist with a penchant for humor, spectacular spectacles and a rapier wit, Maca. Together we explored the Irazu Volcano and Tapanti National Park

Exploradores: Myself, Irene and Maca at Tapanti

From Cartago, I headed to Manuel Antonio and a new hostel, Vista Serena, I met my roommate a German by the name of Anja. I smiled and told my new acquaintance the story of the first German Ana. I wondered what she was up to, since I had never received an email. Here, I also met a pair of friends, one of whom was Dave, an Englander who had survived cancer and was on a two year round the world trip, blogging to inspire other survivors to live their dreams. The next day, Anja and I visited the National Park and enjoyed a lunch by an ocean side cafe. As I sat gazing contentedly out at the sea, devouring my coconut ice cream, I saw them, the couple from Arenal! I called out and we laughed at the likelihood of having run into one another. They decided to have lunch at the same cafe.

The 2nd Anja and I in Manuel Antonio

Anja and I returned to the hostel so she could catch her shuttle to Monteverde and I sat down to enjoy the afternoon showers with a spectacular panoramic view from the hostel balcony. September in Costa Rica is part of what is marketed as “The Green Season,” a gimmicky name for rainy. True to form, each afternoon around 3:00PM, the showers would begin and last well into the evening. It was during the rainstorm that a few new guests arrived. There was an Indian man by the name of Dhaval (who went by Dave for us Westerners) who was living in New York and decided to take a last minute trip to Costa Rica…on whim. As “Dave” and I discussed our experiences and plans, a second newbie arrived. I turned to say hello and immediately both of us let out peals of laughter, it was Ana, from Hostel Urbano! After she and I greeted one another she turned to Dave and laughed again, “You!!!” she exclaimed. Apparently, they had crossed paths earlier in their journey as well. “Your email bounced back, I must have typed it incorrectly” Ana explained, I smiled and replied “I guess we were meant to reconnect,” and we once again shared an evening of laughter as the rain continued to pour.

Both Ana and Irene had told me of a river, Rio Celeste, that had the most unearthly blue water and was just outside of La Fortuna. My first time visiting, La Fortuna, it rained heavily and I assumed that the water would be muddy and thus, not worth visiting, so I skipped it. I had also bypassed the hot springs and was chastised by every person I spoke for not having soaked in the naturally heated waters. With my time in Costa Rica winding down, I was determined to see that river and since I would be in La Fortuna anyway, I supposed I would soak in the springs. I left from Monteverde determined to make it to Rio Celeste, and on the ride over, the rains started. I arrived in La Fortuna and checked into a new hostel, Arenal Hostel Resort, which really, was quite like a little oasis and a steal at $12 per night. Upon check in, I inquired about visiting Rio Celeste, I was told (what I already knew) that it was not recommended given the rains. As I exited the front office I heard someone call out “Hey! Were you at Hostel Urbano?” and there was Annette walking toward me, we decided to go on the Volcano Hike the next morning.

Annette and I at my farewell lunch

For my final evening in Costa Rica, I decided to go full circle and end where I began, at Hostel Urbano. Upon checkin, I turned to see the travel companion of Dave the Survivor and she told me he had set out for Nicaragua, she would be returning to England in the morning. I set out for the ballet and returned that evening, tired and ready for a good night’s sleep. On my final day in Costa Rica, Irene and I went to breakfast and she told me that Maca would have joined us, but he had company in town. We enjoyed our food and I recounted the many tales of reconnecting with people throughout my trip. She told me that Maca would be in San Jose later that day if we were able to meet up. After breakfast, walked over to the University and through the library before returning to the hostel. When I did, I was told someone had called for me, darn! I had missed connecting with Maca. I decided to walk into San Jose to photograph the graffiti murals, and 20 minutes into my walk, as I neared the city center, I heard someone call out my name. I turned to see Maca and his friend walking toward me smiling broadly, we spent the afternoon together at the museums.

Maca and I in San Jose

When I returned to the hostel for my final evening, Annette had returned from La Fortuna and the hostel was abuzz with new activity. I could only shake my head and laugh when Patrick, the German from my first night in Costa Rica, appeared and began to tease me about Americans and our Football. It would only seem right to end my trip where it began, and to find that it is always a comfort to encounter a familiar face in a strange place and that a place, once unfamiliar, can become like a lighthouse –welcoming you back like an old friend.

Patrick and I leaving to our next destinations at San Jose Airport

Travel

Sabbatical: Lessons from the backpackers

By eshepickett on Wednesday, October 16, 2013

I have been traveling now for five weeks, a pittance compared to some of the people I have met, but the longest trip I have ever taken. When all is said and done, I will have been on the road, away from home, for six weeks. In that time, I have visited four countries, and several cities within each country. I couldn’t decide how to share the stories I have captured to date: Topical? By country? I started with what I put in my bag, I could (and I will) talk about the places I’ve visited, but the more profound lessons for me, have been from the people I met along the way.

For those who don’t know me, I am something of a planner. I have always had a calendar, be it paper, or now Google, but scheduling is second nature to me. When I say “hold on, let me check my calendar” I don’t mean to be pretentious, I honestly do have to check because without my appointments saved, I would never know where I am supposed to be, or when. This is both a blessing and a curse. Once, when I was still analog, I lost my planner and had a sickening sense of anxiety until I found it. I was definitely not what could be considered a “free spirit” in the way of just seeing where the day could take me. For my sabbatical, I wanted to escape the tyranny of a schedule. That all started with the one bag, the agility to easily pack up and go, but I was in for a big lesson on what it means to truly be a free spirited traveler.

Let me start by introducing Hostel Urbano, the place where my journey begins. I’d never stayed in a hostel before, in fact, my only exposure was by hearsay from Hollywood horror movies, so needless to say, I was skeptical at best. On the recommendation of a trusted friend, I chose this as my first stop in Costa Rica. It set the tone for my entire trip, in so many ways.

The dining room table in Hostel Urbano

The second I walked through the door, I was greeted like an old friend. As new people arrived, I had the pleasure of meeting one amazing individual after the next, all on a journey of discovery in some regard; The bubbly German woman I met my last night who had arrived without a plan, the Canadian writer who was working on his science fiction novel, the cook turned dive instructor, the two Americans who had decided to move to Costa Rica for a couple of months and work at the hostel in exchange for room and board. What is it about travel that makes us feel that we will somehow be transformed? I think it is the removal from our daily routine. It is inevitable that when we leave our comfort zones, we will have to learn something about who we are, and make decisions about what we really want.

Not knowing what came next used to cause me a great deal of anxiety, but in meeting so many people who were willing to improvise their vacations, I began to “see the light.” Backpackers are some of the most agile people I’ve ever met. By not having a set plan, they easily adapt to the moment. If loving where they are, they stay another day, hating where they are? They hop on a bus and get on with life. Sometimes we stay when we should go because it was “part of the plan.” We stay in unhealthy relationships long past their expiration date, we continue working jobs that make us sick, we are so tied to the comfort of the known we allow it to dictate our path. As my vacation progressed, I found myself looking forward to arriving somewhere new, and free-styling.

I am not advocating that you leave everything in life to chance, some things you actually need to reserve in advance, but leave enough freedom to adapt. In life, as we all know, the unexpected happens. You cannot control the circumstances, only your response to them. I have seen many different responses…stressed out people at wits end on the verge of missing flights (you will make or miss the flight, regardless of how stressed out you are, so chill!), angry people trying to turn a situation in their favor (speaking more loudly in threatening manner will not endear service people to you, be kind, it gets you further in life), but my favorite are those who take stock of the situation and make the most of it. I will end this with an application of my lessons from the backpackers:

Be agile: Be open to change and ready to make the necessary adjustments
Make the most of the moment: You cannot change what has already happened, so, when life gives you lemons, make a souffle!

An excerpt from my journal on Sept 11, 2013:

I couldn’t be further removed from the chaos that marked this day in 2001…Today, as I walked around wondering what I would do, and how I would get there, I stopped myself and said ‘Enjoy the journey.’ Life is as much about the ‘in between’ the ‘meantime’ as it is the end goal and destination. The dive instructor that I met at the hostel said he had always wanted to find a way to to combine his love of water and cooking and that now, he was doing something he really enjoyed, but he said “What next?” What happens when you have reached the goals you set, when you are content with life? I think every person has a hunger. An insatiable hunger to strive for more. Whether it be more knowledge, greater spiritual ascension, better physical fitness, it is a never ending chase. But instead of more, why is it so hard to be? To be present, in the moment, to enjoy what is happening right now, because the now is not something you get back. I got caught in the rain today and I didn’t mind because I had on my rain gear. I set out for what I thought was the entrance to the Arenal Volcano Park. I came to find out, after walking for 20 minutes, that I was very far from where I wanted to be. So, I turned around and I walked. I walked back to where I was and as I did, I ran into a couple who told me that I had to see La Fortuna Waterfalls. I saw a sign for it and followed it. That turned out to be another hour walk, but I made it and I arrived at the falls to have my breath completely taken away. I must say, it was one of the more beautiful falls I’ve seen.

La Catarata de La Fortutna

Enjoy the moments. Peace and blessings.

Travel

Sabbatical: One Bag

By eshepickett on Wednesday, September 25, 2013

What do you put into a suitcase for six weeks of travel? I have never been on a trip that lasted longer than two weeks, let alone with just one bag. One carry on bag. I suppose I should back up a few steps. Every seven years, the company I work for grants it’s salaried employees eight weeks of additional paid vacation. You can use this time however you choose, and this magical time is known as sabbatical.

sabbatical noun: a period of time during which someone does not work at his or her regular job and is able to rest, travel, do research, etc.

One bag.
The worst possible thing that can happen when you are traveling is lost luggage. My first course of action was to identify a single travel bag that would be versatile, functional, and easily fit into the overhead compartment of a standard airplane. After researching several different sites and bags, I settled on the Deuter Transit 50 for its versatility, durability and zip-off daypack. Great for the single traveler hopping on and off of buses, doing day hikes, and without need for all of the extraneous add-ons of typical backpacking packs. I picked it up for $143.00 on Moosejaw.

So, now, I had the bag and we are back to the original question: What do you put into a suitcase for six weeks of travel?

I suppose that depends on where you are traveling, and what you intend to do. I was planning to travel to Costa Rica (3 weeks), Peru (1 week), Argentina (1 week), and Colombia (1 week). This presented a bit of a challenge because I would be doing a mixture of adventure and urban travel. I wanted to snorkel, hike, zipline, tango, attend my first professional soccer match and learn how to surf–among other things. The range in temperature: 40-85 Fahrenheit.

What’s in my bag?

Journal and pen
White long-sleeved cotton shirt
Black Danskin long sleeve mock turtleneck
Black Prana convertible pants — Best. Pants. Ever.
Black stretchy pants
2 multicolored print scarves
2 maxi convertible tube dresses which double as skirts (one black, one animal print)
1 black sweater
1 cream knitted hoodie (Roxy– love it!)
1 sports bra
1 cream colored hemp material long skirt
1 pair of board shorts
1 regular bra
1 athletic bikini
1 one-piece black halter swimsuit
Rashguard (this I could have left at home, the surf instructor provided one)
1 pair of waterproof socks
1 white cotton t-shirt
1 black cami
1 white cami
1 tan cami
1 gray cami
1 animal print 1/2 t-shirt
1 pair mid-calf jean shorts
1 pair of cotton long socks
1 pair black yoga pants
1 island print cotton halter dress
1 long sleeve embroidered hemp-material “hippie” shirt.
7 pair of underwear
1 pair of black gloves
1 Orange knit hat
1 army green baseball cap
1 black Marmot waterproof jacket
1 pair Teva TIRRA hiking sandals
1 pair Born Elsa sandals
1 pair of “fashion” boots
1 hobo bag for a more fashionable alternative to the day pack when in an urban setting 🙂
Norwex towel and washcloth
1 Argentinian futbol jersey 🙂
2 pair of earplugs
Electronics: Canon PowerShot D20 waterproof camera, Samsung ATIV 500 Tablet, iPod, 500GB external hard drive (for backing up pics), USB mouse, lightweight Bluetooth keyboard, Droid Bionic, Casio Tough Solar waterproof watch, USB rechargeable flashlight
Toiletries: Lush body butter (take THAT TSA), Soapwalla Deodorant cream, contact solution, arm & hammer toothpaste, scalp olive oil, shampoo
Feminine products — I wanted to just take a DivaCup, but, I hadn’t tested it out yet, so I opted for conventional products on this trip.
Reading (ebooks): Girl Who Played with Fire, Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, Half the Sky, World War Z, Bossy Pants (audio), Behind the Beautiful Forevers (audio), The New Yorker
Accessories: Wooden jewelry, sunglasses
Makeup: 1 mascara, 1 neutral (brown), palette eyeshadow, brow pencil, lip gloss, black eyeliner
Travel Pharmacy (various medications for traveling, I won’t inventory this, but suffice it to say I am amply prepared for Montezuma’s revenge or any other common disease that besets travelers).
Outlet adapter, I need to add a 3 prong adapter in this, as presently I only have 2 prongs.
Water bottle
Water bladder from my camelback, which I have not used at all!
Plastic baggies
Snacks! Lifesavers on long bus rides. I had Lara bars, I have since replaced them with local snacks.

One bag to rule them all: Deuter Transit 50

That may not be an all-inclusive list, but it pretty much captures everything that is in my bag (so far as I can recall). I didn’t have to bring any styling products for my hair because I am sporting braids, circa 1993 Poetic Justice style! To anyone who will be traveling for an extended period of time, I would recommend the theme song “Bag Lady,” as you will definitely need to “pack light.”

I have been in Costa Rica for two and a half weeks now and I must say that my all-stars have been the convertible pants, hiking sandals, and rain jacket. There were things that I considered putting in my bag, but they just wouldn’t fit, these included: pair of flip flops, tennis shoes (chucks). I will write about each country as I complete my journey there, but I wanted to start with what I put in my bag. Until next time!

Hippie shirt, jean shorts, and tevas

Reading

On Reading Cloud Atlas

By eshepickett on Saturday, August 17, 2013

“In an individual, selfishness uglifies the soul; for the human species, selfishness is extinction.”

I just finished reading Cloud Atlas, a novel by David Mitchell. It is brilliant. I don’t use that word frivolously. I sincerely mean it. I rarely read a work of fiction and find myself congratulating the author aloud, but I did. I have stayed up far too late for the past several nights reading. I was engrossed, enthralled, absolutely delighted by the intricately woven twists and turns, and the artful manner in which he connects the disparate stories to craft a delicious scavenger hunt. I ferreted away information while reading, paying close attention to the seemingly insignificant, so that I could make the connection and piece together the puzzle determining how one tale was linked to the next. This man knows how to tell a story.

Cloud Atlas, at its core, underscores the age old struggle of the powerful and the powerless. President Lincoln understood this well when he said “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” No matter the time — future or past, present or otherwise, there will always be those that desire power and the unfortunate souls who are collateral damage in their struggle to obtain more of it. A greed driven culture of conquest requires a need to justify the evils that must exist in order to sustain that culture. If our contentment is only bought with consumption, we will be eternally hungry. Always desiring more. More power, more status, more intelligence.

“Yay, Old Uns’ Smart mastered sicks, miles, seeds an’ made miracles ord’nary, but it din’t master one thing, nay, a hunger in the hearts o’ humans, yay, a hunger for more”

more what?

“Oh, more gear, more food, faster speeds, longer lifes, easier lifes, more power, yay. Now the Hole World is big, but it weren’t big ’nuff for that hunger what made Old Uns rip out the skies an’ boil up the seas an’ poison the soil with crazed atoms an’ donky ’bout with rotted seeds so new plagues was borned an’ babbits was freakish birthed…human hunger birthed the Civ’lize, but human hunger killed it too.”

In order for a small concentration of power to remain, a large percentage of the population must be kept powerless. To treat a person poorly, you must somehow convince yourself that they are deserving of such treatment. In C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity, he posits “If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more.” and I do not disagree. You have to not only convince yourself of this, but others as well, in order for them to allow such ill treatment to continue. As Cloud Atlas explains it:

“In a cycle as old as tribalism, ignorance of the Other engenders fear; fear engenders hatred; hatred engenders violence; violence engenders further violence until the only “rights.” the only law, are whatever is willed by the most powerful”

The effect that such atrocities have on the perpetrators is to make them callous to the suffering of those they deem “less than,” it in turn makes them less human. But we are all connected. The thread that binds the stories of Cloud Atlas, binds each of us and just as one act of hatred will inevitably begat more of the same, it is also true that one act of kindness begets more kindness. I love a book that causes you to question the goodness of humanity to lament the evils of society, but then, to ask yourself: “what is my role?” The closing paragraph of the novel ends with such a call:

“He who would do battle with the many-headed hydra of human nature must pay a world of pain & his family must pay it along with him! & only as you gasp your dying breath shall you understand, your life amounted to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean!”
Yet what is any ocean but a multitude of drops?

So, what is your drop?

Musings

Shine.

By eshepickett on Sunday, June 9, 2013

Hello.

I haven’t posted an entry since…June, of last year. It is not that I haven’t had a multitude of thoughts, I just have not made the time to write them here. I had to write this, because I know someone needs to hear it, I needed to hear it.

“Everything has a purpose, clocks tell you the time, trains take you to places. I’d imagine the whole world was one big machine. Machines never come with any extra parts, you know. They always come with the exact amount they need. So I figured if the entire world was one big machine… I couldn’t be an extra part. I had to be here for some reason. And that means you have to be here for some reason, too.” —Hugo Cabret

Do not, ever, diminish who you are in order to allow someone else to be comfortable. Anyone. Not your friends, family, co-workers, spouses, acquaintances, no one. Life is short. We only get one shot at this, and the time we have is precious, far too precious to spend even one moment hiding who it is that we were created to be. More important than that: someone needs you to be exactly who you are in order to fulfill who it is that they are meant to be. We are all here for a reason.

If we spend our lives and energy worrying about what will cause someone else discomfort, what they will think of us, we do ourselves and the world a great disservice. Each time we hide, we retreat further into ourselves until eventually, we just…disappear.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.’ We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” –Marianne Williamson, A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of “A Course in Miracles”, Ch. 7, Section 3 (1992)

We must be careful who we allow to speak into our lives, who we allow to impact our spirits, because the people we surround ourselves with can be our greatest detractors or our biggest supporters. Everyone needs encouragement in order to grow. Anyone who constantly feels the need to remind you of how normal, average, and insignificant you are, is someone who does not yet love themselves enough to be loving toward anyone else…even if they want to be. The world is full of people who have been rejected and made to feel inadequate. If they have not healed, those around them become collateral damage. It is our job to love them, but not at the expense of shrinking from who we know in our hearts we are called to become.

There is far too much darkness in the world to extinguish, or even diminish the light we carry. We have to shine. We were born to shine. We were made to shine.

What I am going to say next, makes me want to cry: all of the love you have to give, will never be enough love to make someone love themselves. Let me repeat that. ALL of the love you have to give will NEVER be enough love to MAKE someone love themselves. We are not meant to fill that void, if we try, we will soon find that we are drained. Loving a person is not easy, but healthy love is reciprocal and, though hard-fought, has the effect of making you shine brighter.

I want you to do something. I want you to take a pen and paper, and write down every person that you love. Are you their biggest cheerleader? You should be able to cheer on, from your heart, everyone who you love. If you cannot do that, you are not loving them. You should ask yourself, why? If your actions cause friction, tension, silence, separation, you are diminishing the people who you say you love.

I want you to take the challenge to give the people you love license to shine. You may not yet know how to do this, but it is simple: look into their eyes, observe their body language, you will see that they are shining, it will exude from every pore. Lift them up, speak kind words, give of yourself when there is nothing that you expect in return, look for ways to lighten their burdens, hug them, personify love.

I want you to give yourself license to shine. Pursue your passions. Your dreams are not silly, stupid, crazy, or unreachable, they exist in your heart because you have the unique life experience to steward them, to shepherd them, and to carry them to completion. If you are reading this, even if I do not know you, I want to tell you that I love you.

Do not be afraid to be who you were created to be, you need to be that to fulfill your purpose, and the world needs us each to shine brightly in order to illuminate the darkness.

Food

Get them to the Greek

By eshepickett on Saturday, July 7, 2012

The February 2012 Veggie Dinner took us to another exotic locale…Greece! Jennifer and I (Eshe) co-hosted, it was one of the most preparation intensive meals to date. Good thing we had many Sous Chefs on hand.

Menu:

Falafel chips and hummus
Greek Salad
Spanakopita
Baba Ganouj & Pita
Vegan Moussaka

Total cook and prep time: 2 hoursFor our appetizer, we cheated. The Falafel chips were purchased from Trader Joes as was the hummus. We doctored up the hummus a bit by adding additional garlic, lemon juice and salt (to taste) a hint of olive oil and a dash of paprika completed the dish.

Greek Salad

1 English cucumber
3 large Roma tomatoes
1/2 purple onion
Feta Cheese
Seedless kalamata olives
Your choice of lettuce (we used arugula, which isn’t very “Greek”)

Wash and tear your lettuce. Thinly slice the cucumber and purple onion. Cube and de-seed the tomatoes. Chop olives. In a large bowl, combine ingredients and toss. Add cheese last as garnish. Top with your dressing of choice, we suggest a balsamic vinaigrette.

Spanakopita

1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
4oz feta cheese
crumbled butter
melted 10oz chopped spinach thawed, drained, squeezed dry
2 large onions
2 tablespoons flour
4 eggs lightly beaten
16 oz phyllo dough

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat vegetable oil in a large saucepan. Slowly cook and stir onions until softened. Mix in spinach, dill and flour. Cook 10 minutes or until most of the moisture has been absorbed. Remove from heat. Mix in feta cheese, eggs, salt and pepper. Separate one sheet of phyllo from stack and evenly brush with melted butter. Place another sheet over it and brush on butter. Cut the dough into long strips about 3 inches wide. Make sure to keep the remaining phyllo covered with plastic to keep from drying out. place a heaping tablespoon of filling on the edge of the strip. Fold the bottom right corner over the filling. Continue turning over to create a triangle. Repeat with remaining phyllo dough and filling. Place the filled dough triangles on a large baking sheet and brush with remaining butter. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour until golden brown.

Baba Ghanouj

3 medium eggplants
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup tahini
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/2 cup chopped Italian parsley
1 head garlic
1 1/2 cup water
8 oz cream cheese
8 oz feta cheese
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prick eggplants wtih fork and bake (turning several times) 40 min or until soft. Remove from oven and cool. Remove skin and chop. Lightly salt and drain in colander for 1 hour to remove excess liquid. Place garlic on foil and drizzle with olive oil. Place on a piece of foil on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Let cool and sqeeze garlic out. Place all ingredients into a blender except 4 oz of feta and the parsley. Blend for 3-4 minutes or until smooth and warm. Add remaining feta and parsley and blend for 10 seconds.

A word to the wise: Make sure that your blender has a powerful motor. Our Baba Ganouj was nearly just Baba on account of the lack luster performance of my run of the mill blender. It was touch and go, but in the end, success! The recommendation I would make – blend in smaller increments, adding a bit at a time instead of everything all at once.

Moussaka
Our recipe for Vegan moussaka came from the vegetariantimes.com, please visit their site for preparation details. The moussaka was the one dish that was less than stellar. Typically, moussaka is like a Greek lasagna, mine…not so much. It was far too wet, and did not hold together as it should have. Taste wise, it was decent, but nothing to write home about. What went wrong? I think the eggplant should have sweat out a little more water before adding, perhaps even grilled ahead of time, the same with the tomatoes. The seeds should have been removed and perhaps a little dehydration in the oven prior to cooking. Here is the side by side of what it should have looked like, and what it did:

What it was supposed to look like

what it did.

After dinner, I made the remainder of the moussaka into a delicious soup. A (cooking) failure is only a failure if it cannot be turned into something delicious to eat. Until the next blog, remember: happy eating is healthy eating!

Musings

Weighing In

By eshepickett on Tuesday, June 12, 2012

I have not blogged (on my personal blog) in over a year. Thoughts pop into my head and as quickly as the seed is planted a responsibility usurps my fleeting desire to write. So, here I am, sitting at the keyboard, finally. I intended to go to bed early tonight because I went to bed far too late and got up far too early yesterday. I wanted a nice cup of mint tea before I went to bed, warm beverages put me in a sleepy mood. I opened the pantry, only to be accosted by a moth. I don’t like things flying unexpectedly at my face. So, I killed it. And then, there was another, and another…until in disgust I started removing all of the boxes from my pantry shelf to find that they had taken up residence there. There went my early bed time. I have spent the last 2 hours cleaning out my cabinet and throwing away food. At the end of the ordeal, I put my water on to boil, let my mint tea steep and I thought: “Why do I love butterflies and hate moths?” They are essentially the same, right?

Why is it that I am delighted when a butterfly lands on me, yet, I swat violently when a moth so much as dares to enter my atmosphere? I came to the conclusion that it’s because butterflies are prettier. Beautiful things get a pass in this world. If something is hideous or even slightly displeasing, we have less empathy for it; ugly things suffer. I had to let that marinate.

How must it feel to be passed over, or worse, targeted for ridicule because you are not conventionally attractive? I have been guilty in my lifetime of judging the book by it’s cover. If someone smelled bad, seemed not to care about their appearance or, heaven forbid, was obese, I judged them. I am not proud to admit it, but I was extremely intolerant of obesity.

I seized every opportunity to climb atop my fat soapbox, often going on tirades. My friends jokingly remarked that I “hated fat people,” to which a typical response would be “I don’t hate them, I just don’t want to have to subsidize their bad habits” before laying out the laundry list of ailments associated with being overweight and lamenting how I should get health insurance discounts for keeping myself in good shape. I made insensitive comments, minimized the weight loss struggle (“just stop eating so much and so unhealthily!” I’d think when I saw a large person) and in some ways, disliked overweight people without ever having befriended one. Weightism is one of the last socially acceptable forms of discrimination.

Everyone cannot be a butterfly, but that does not make them any less worthy of love. I know that God created all things for a purpose, yes all things, even those that I do not find beautiful. In 2011 I made a conscious decision to stop speaking so venomously about people who are overweight, to start seeing them with new eyes. In the process I came to a realization about obesity: It is merely an outward manifestation of inward struggle. If we all had to wear our private battles like a badge where everyone could see, it is likely that we would stagger and fall beneath the weight of judgement.

For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you

Food

Trinidadian, Veggie Style!

By eshepickett on Monday, May 28, 2012

In 2012, we wanted to focus on the foods of the world. Two of our Veggie Dinner regulars, the Heningburg sisters, are Trinidadian. For our first Veggie Dinner of the year, they treated us to the tastes of their homeland, and what a treat it was.

Menu

Corn Chowder
Cucumber Salad
Plantains
Pelau
Callaloo
Trini-tea

Callaloo 6 to 8 servings

● ½ lb spinach

● ½ lb swiss chard

● 6 cups vegetable stock

● 1 onion, finely chopped

● 1 clove garlic, chopped

● 3 scallions, chopped

● 2 tbsp fresh chives

● ¼ tsp fresh thyme

● ½ cup coconut milk

● 1 (10 ounce) frozen okra

● 2 tbsp Matouk’s (hot sauce/ salsa picante) pepper sauce

● salt & pepper to taste

Place the greens in a soup pot with stock, onion, garlic, scallions, chives, and thyme. Cover and simmer over medium heat for about 20 mins. Add coconut milk, okra, and pepper sauce. Simmer of medium heat for another 10 mins. Salt & Pepper to taste. Remove from heat and transfer all contents to a blender. Blend on low for about 20-30 secs. Serve.

Corn Chowder 6 to 8 servings

● 8 fresh ears of corn

● 1 small onion

● 5 chives, minced

● 2 garlic cloves, minced

● 1 stalk of celery, minced

● 2 small green bell peppers, chopped

● 1 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped

● 2 cups lentils

● 6 cups vegetable stock

● 3 roma tomatoes

● 2 tbsp Matouk’s (hot sauce/ salsa picante) pepper sauce

● salt & pepper to taste

Remove the kernels from two of the ears of corn and place in a blender with ¼ cup of water. Puree until most of the corn is processed into a creamy paste. Set aside. Place the onion, garlic, celery, chives, cilantro, and bell pepper. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions become translucent. Rinse the lentils and add to the pot with the stock and tomatoes. Cut the remaining ears of corn into 1-inch pieces and add to the pot. Simmer for 15 minutes, then add corn puree and pepper sauce. Simmer for 30 minutes more or until corn kernels are soft and the lentils have disintegrated.

Plantains

● 4 large really ripe plantains

● 1 tbsp brown sugar

● canola oil

● ½ cup confectioners’ sugar

Peel the plantains and cut crosswise into 1-inch sections. slice each section lengthwise into 3 pieces. Heat the oil in a deep frying pan until hot. Add the plantains and brown sugar and fry until plantains are golden brown on one side, about 1 to 2 minutes. (Do not overcrowd the pan or allow the plantains to scorch). Remove from the pan and drain on a plate lined with paper towels. Dust the plantains with confectioners’ sugar and serve hot.

Cucumber Salad

● 1 lb cucumbers, sliced

● 1 onion

● 1 cup vinegar

● ¼ cup water

● ¼ tsp dill

● salt

In a saucepan, vinegar, water, dill and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove from the heat. Place cucumbers in a large bowl. Pour vinegar mixture over and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Pelau

● 1 (12 ounce) can black-eyed peas or 1 cups dry

● 2 cups long-grain rice, slightly undercooked

● 3 tbsp canola oil

● 1 small onion, chopped

● 1 clove garlic, minced

● 1 cup coconut milk

● 2 cups water

● 1 bay leaf

● 2 tsps curry powder

● ½ cup chopped parsley

● ¼ tsp fresh thyme

● 2 carrots, peeled and chopped

● 5 scallions, chopped

● 2 tbsp Matouk’s (hot sauce/ salsa picante) pepper sauce

● ½ cup ketchup

If using dried peas, soak them overnight in 3 cups of water. Drain. Bring 3 fresh cups of water to a boil in a saucepan and add peas. Simmer for 15 mins, or until cooked almost completely through. Drain and set aside. If using canned beans, drain, rinse with cold water, drain again, and set aside.

Place the onion and garlic. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions become translucent. Stir in water, the coconut milk, bay leaf, curry power, parsley, thyme, carrots, and scallions. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 10 minutes.

Stir the rice, peas, pepper sauce, ketchup. Cover and cook for 20 minutes, or until the peas and vegetables are tender (add ½ cup more water if needed). Remove the lid and fluff the rice. The rice should be moist but not sticky.

We hope you enjoyed this food trip to Trinidad & Tobago! Please join us for our next journey, where myself and Jennifer will be preparing food from Greece!

Food

December Potluck

By eshepickett on Monday, May 28, 2012

Given how hectic the month of December is, we opted to spread the hosting wealth and do a potluck dinner.

Menu:

Asparagus w/cream sauce
Garlic mashed potatoes
Spaghetti squash
Sweet potato casserole
Salad
Pumpkin pie

Asparagus w/cream sauce

1 bunch green asparagus
1/2 cup almonds
Nathan’s deli mustard
1 tbsp miso
2 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2 carton of silky tofu
1/2 cup almond milk
salt
pepper
curry powder
cumin
garlic powder
olive oil

Blanch the asparagus (steam quickly) for about 2 minutes. Place the asparagus on a cookie sheet and drizzle in olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for ~5 minutes on 350. You will need a food processor or a blender. Combine the ingredients (season to taste) for cream sauce in the food processor and blend until completely liquified. In a sauce pan, heat the mixture until warm and and serve with the asparagus.

Garlic mashed potatoes

5-6 potatoes (of your choice)
salt
pepper
5 cloves of garlic (or more if you like garlic!)

Roast garlic in the oven for 15 minutes or until soft. Wash and dice potatoes into small cubes. Boil potatoes in a large pot until potatoes are soft. Drain potatoes (keeping some of the water to use for mashing). In a large mixing bowl, combine garlic, salt pepper, and potatoes. Mash until fluffy. Add Earth Balance buttery spread to taste.

Spaghetti Squash

1 large spaghetti squash
1 red onion
Kalamatta olives
chives
5 cloves garlic
2 large heirloom tomatoes
1 red pepper
1 cob of sweet corn
1-2 cups of sliced crimini mushrooms
marinara sauce (I like Whole Food’s 365 organic tomato basil)
Fresh basil
Italian seasoning

Split the spaghetti squash in half and poke several holes in the meat using a fork. Pour about 1 inch of water into a large, deep pan and place the spaghetti squash meat side down in the water. Bake on 350 for 45 minutes. Chop garlic, onion and red pepper, saute in olive oil and salt to taste. Remove kernels from the cob and saute with mushrooms. Scoop seeds from the spaghetti squash and discard. Scoop all meat from the spaghetti squash into a large pan and combine with sauteed vegetables. Add marinara and chopped heirloom tomatoes. Heat on low, add Italian seasoning, kalamatta olives and salt to taste. Garnish with chives and basil.

Salad

Romaine lettuce
1 red bell pepper
Sliced mushrooms
Lemon juice
balsamic vinegar
olive oil
salt
pepper
seasoning
brown sugar

Wash lettuce and slice off the bottom. In a sauce pan, saute mushrooms and red bell peppers. Combine lemon 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1/2 cup olive oil, 1 tsp brown sugar, 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar in a container (with lid) shake well. Place lettuce on plate and add mushroom and bell peppers, drizzle with salad dressing and serve!

Sweet Potato Casserole

We are missing this recipe…Kat and Avory have to provide 🙂

Vegan Pumpkin Pie

We are missing this recipe…Russel will have to provide!

Yet another delicious meal to add to the veggie pantheon of goodness. Let us know if you attempt any of these and until the next time…happy eating!