The first day of school after the summer vacation was always somewhat bewildering. Each time, it arrived abruptly but was, nonetheless, one of the highlights of the year. It was wonderful to reunite with familiar faces that looked bright and excited, and the prospect of making new friends motivated more than the academic challenges that were inevitably ahead. Books and classrooms had the scent of potential; everything was possible. New garments and sharp pencils appeared to empower everyone to reform and succeed.
I feel the same way now, while uploading this post, except that the gap between the previous semester and today was far longer than a regular summer break. My sabbatical from blogging was filled by a military style schedule and duty, and it wasn’t until last week I was able to make a short trip to Southern Europe and fully relax. In the pictures, the Atlantic Ocean lashes the shores of Spain.
When I was an exchange student in Chicago eons ago, peanut butter sandwiches were a lunch-box staple at school. I don’t think it is as popular anywhere else as in America. Almond butter is nutritionally similar but has nominally less saturated fats and a bit more calcium and iron. It is also a better source of vitamin E and magnesium. Perhaps the biggest difference is that peanuts are often over cropped and susceptible to fungi called aflatoxins, which gnaw the immune system. If not organic, peanuts are likely pumped with pesticides.
The benefit of making your own nut-butter is that you can regulate the sugar intake and additives. Use honey, maple or agave syrup to sweeten it, and a pinch of Himalayan salt for a balance. Almond butter is so thick that you can roll sweet balls from it and coat them with carob or chocolate. Plain, you can add it to the salad dressing, smoothies, soups and baking. For a stronger taste, toast the almonds with skins.
The first day of school would be a fiasco if I had to do all the talking. Instead, I would like to know how you are doing. What are your recent realizations, hopes and needs? What is new in the blogging sphere? How can I serve you?
Thank you.
A delicious and healthy spread/paste! Beautiful seaside pictures.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Rosa
Thanks, Rosa. Oceans are majestic.
DeleteYour pictures makes me want to dip my finger into that butter and lick it. It's that tempting. Beautiful post Lakshmi
ReplyDeleteGo ahead, Nandita! One of the most important (subtle) elements of digestion is eagerness to eat, and gratefulness.
DeleteComing to your blog is such a visual treat, you make the world of food blogging a pleasure to be in, Lakshmi! Love home made nut butter..but I refrain from making it often..as I am the only one licking the jars clean, before it could even reach anyone at home.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sanjeeta for the kind words, although my score of being absent from the world of blogging is higher than being present :-).
DeleteJust be present and share you own view on beauty my dear Laksmi! For through cooking & baking your world, you offer us a lot.
ReplyDeletexo Iro
Nice to “see” you again, Ivy, and thanks for the thumbs up.
DeleteThank you Lakshmi for coming back to your blog.I am an almond butter junkie and your blog and pictures makes it more a whimsical treat.
ReplyDeleteI suppose 100 Kcal per a spoon translates to whimsical!
DeleteI have not tried almond butter but I will now! Even though I am in my late 40's a late night peanut butter sandwich if my favorite and will look for almond butter as a substitute. I am waiting for spring to start.... planting some herbs and a few veggies that the squirrels won't take for themselves. Yes...so glad you are back your talent with food, photography and words are perfect.
ReplyDeleteMonica, if you like peanut butter, you will love almond butter. On the top of being tastier, it is easier to digest.
DeleteYes, may the spring start! Like you, I’m also waiting for the garden season.
Welcome back! I enjoyed a free tea party.
ReplyDeleteMay our little Tea Party be a new culinary movement for advocating the reduction of karmic debt, as oppose to the one with a political/economic agenda :-).
DeleteHi, I like your blog for veg recipes. Curious to know camera you use to shoot this pictures
ReplyDeleteNikon D800 with 85mm f/2.8 lens.
DeleteAnd the sea pictures with 50mm f/1.8.
DeleteWelcome back! It is such a treat to see your pictures and read stories! You are such an inspiration - always looking forward to your blogpost :)
ReplyDeleteLove almond butter! So glad to see a new post here, Lakshmi :)
ReplyDeleteDoes the almond powder turn into a paste fairly easily, Lakshmi? The texture of your almond butter looks amazing - far superior to any store-bought one!
ReplyDeleteBina, it does but also depends on how powerful food processor you have. It tends to get stuck on the sides of the container and you have to repeatedly halt and push it down. A small amount is best done with a small electric spice mill.
DeleteWelcome back! The photos are amazing. I have been inundated by snow and ice here in New England, so your warm weather photos and nut butter are a special treat!
ReplyDeleteIt seems our Nordic weather has transmigrated to the East coast of America this year. We have hardly any snow and a pleasantly mild winter for a change.
DeleteLakshmi, I'm so delighted to see you back. And I do not mind if you do all the talking, even if it runs through several pages! :) Love to read through your posts as much as feasting my eyes with your pictures...
ReplyDeletesuch a simple recipe. amazing pics!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pictures. Nice to see you back. Hope the book is coming along great.
ReplyDeleteI love reading your blogs because of the obvious mindfulness here, and I always learn something. I am at a stage in my mid 50s now where I need to renew my spirituality. Life has different demands, and we view it in different ways, at different stages. I had a series of losses in the last several months, and am trying to enter this spring with a renewal of gratitude and observations. I guess if you have anything you wish to write about loss and how to learn and move on from it, that would be helpful, and seems appropriate with spring coming nearer. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteTerry, thank you for your sincerity. I am sorry to hear about your losses and the sorrow you must be feeling.
DeleteLoss is the consort of attachment; love and separation go together. In the modern world we tend to hide and delete suffering instead of understanding and processing it as a natural, although painful, part of life. Spirituality, which is a path of self-discovery, considers both, the light and shadow. In the dark areas, there is a lot of information for growth and renewal. Empathy, compassion and love increase by opening up and studying the shadows. It is a powerful impetus for inquiry about the nature and relationships between the constituents of existence.
I am grateful for your suggestion to speak about the subject and will be happy to do it. It is an important and deep topic, and I will have to think about it before putting it in words. Until then, I’d like to share one of the opening verses of Bhagavad-gita, from which the rest of the conversation about the meaning of life expands:
matra-sparsas tu kaunteya
sitosna-sukha-duhkha-dah
agamapayino 'nityas
tams titiksasva bharata
Here Krishna consoles his friend, Arjuna, by saying that the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed.
Being unaffected by loss doesn't mean being insensitive or emotionally cold; detachment means to understand what everything is and how to relate to different situations, conditions and persons in a beneficial and merciful manner.
Thank you, Lakshmi, for your very thoughtful reply, and I will look forward to anything else you have to say on this. I am, indeed, trying to acknowledge and learn from the loss and not ignore it or minimize it. I lost my father and two dear friends, but I have also been fortunate to have other friends who are not afraid to talk about these things and share their own journeys with me.
ReplyDeleteI deeply admire your faith. Your pictures inspire me a lot. What would you say to an aspiring blogger. I have just started a blog.Thanks Lakshmi
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ratna. Nice to meet you and welcome to the blogging community! I suppose a new blogger should have a clear idea who she is and what she wants to convey to others by blogging. Also, you should know what motivates you and how to achieve your goal. You have a field or expertise you are comfortable with, and want to make it visible and beneficial to others. I would say the most important thing is to give something valuable to others, reach out and offer what someone else is looking for or lacking in life.
DeleteYour pictures are so beautiful and inspiring! What a simple recipe!
ReplyDeleteThis is such a wonderful blog! I love the spirit of simplicity and beauty in your photos and writing. So happy to have found your site.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Maryn, and welcome!
DeleteWould like that on a biscuit
ReplyDelete