beautiful inside and out

I am experiencing a certain love affair with food. Not just eating it, in which I have a long standing relationship already, but the buying, preening and preparation of food. Cooking. And I've noticed a certain tranformation in the process of this martha stewart advent.

I've always considered the beauty that might go into my outside surroundings, even my own self (despite popular belief). Had a certain reverence for functional and beautiful creations and how they play a part in the peace and balance of our lives...

But food. Hmm. It is necessary. It is fun. But is it about beauty?

Staring at a piece of fruit, the fruition of nature and it's colorful bounty, it's hard not to say yes. To the point, it's hard not to take pleasure in creating something beautiful that you take INSIDE you. In a way, even though it all mixes in the end, I'd say it's an inherent part of loving your body, of expressing gratitude to the self.

So I've been cooking. With people, without people. For people for myself.
Sort of a culinary love note to our bodies, if you will. An expression of the harvest we hope to manifest in our lives, in our hearts.



This little beauty can be attributed to our houseguest sarah...The things she put on dough, oh man...figs and goat cheese and an amazingly simple array of spices and veggies...







The challenge, often, in life, as in cooking is to bring in healthy items, and items foreign to us, and to make them into something wonderful, and enjoyable, and eye opening simultaneously. This is soba with mango and cucumber, miso broiled eggplant and tofu, and sesame greenbeans so good they were almost gone before we sat down to dinner.