Kitchen Stress Relief

Posted on September 2, 2024

Some people run. Some people read. Some people spa. Some people get pedicures. Some people nap.

I cook.

I mean, I should probably also run, read, spa, get pedicures, and nap…but, let’s not get distracted.

When I have a 3-day weekend (for which I am incredibly grateful as I realize this isn’t everyone’s experience), I prefer to get in the kitchen and cook all day. I don’t listen to anything — not even music. I just chop and stir and create in total silence. Oh, and I snack. (I also do pilates in the morning and walk in the evening to balance out all the snacks.) Working on balance these days…and probably for the rest of my life.

I knew that I wanted to prep at least 2-3 breakfasts for the week. I don’t know why breakfasts are so mind numbing to me. I’m perfectly fine with toast and sunbutter, but for some reason I think that the answer to my kids test scores solely point back to what they had for breakfast (thanks, societal pressure). And so each morning I jump on the eggs and toast struggle bus. Yawn…

Not this week. This week, we shall have choices! We will choose between:

Masa Harina Protein Waffles with Cinnamon, Caradamom, and nutmeg (hat tip to Lindsay Whiteaker). Okay, let’s be honest. These waffles are for me.

The kiddos can choose between Ambitious Kitchen’s Honey Cinnamon Banana Muffins, White Lily Biscuits, or Dolly Parton brownies (why not?).

Now for dinners… I don’t know why I choose to cook anything but Ina Garten recipes. They never fail. Never ever ever never fail. I tried her Creamy Chicken Thighs with Lemon and Thyme over brown basmati rice and it was absolutely divine. I also cooked a few extra thighs to shred up for salads. While I was making this dish, I daydreamed about spending the weekend in the Hamptons with her and even decided to invite my pretend BFF Jennifer Garner. When I came back to reality, I made myself a plate and decided this is my new favorite Ina recipe.

I also made taco meat for the week as well as Skinnytaste’s Cheeseburger Soup. I have to admit the image doesn’t do the taste justice, so just trust me on this one.

Side dishes include: roasted broccoli and brussels sprouts, Masa Harina Cornbread (to my fellow Southerners: please forgive me in advance for adding maple syrup to a cornbread recipe), and smashed potatoes with parmesan.

I am headed into a busy month and as I anchor myself, I’m reminded of how grateful I am for this incredibly important work I get to do every day at Jones Valley Teaching Farm.

“Clarity is freedom. Know what is important to you and it will grant you the freedom to ignore everything else.” -James Clear

Categories: Uncategorized

Hopeful and Determined

Posted on June 1, 2024

I posted this photo and caption to Instagram today.

“Oh, hey Instagram. I just want to post this here for those of you who have had a particularly hard time this week. I’ve been saying at work that my words this year are “hopeful” and “determined.” I think it is the perfect combo for how I am feeling about all the things right now (mixed with a healthy dose of discomfort, disappointment, and heaviness from the world around me). I had a pain block on Tuesday and had hoped to wake up this week with a body ready to get back to walking and that wasn’t the case. So after a day of feeling frustrated and sad and worried and all the other things, I forced myself out of the bed to “walk it out.” I took this picture to remind me that “hopeful” and “determined” looks like this. It might sound easy to say, but it’s very hard to walk that talk sometimes. So this is me working through it in real time. This is me wanting to document the way the sun was shining and the clouds were moving. This is me desperately wanting the world to be better. Hopeful and determined. Sending love to y’all.”

I thought I would post it here too so that I’m documenting the hard parts with the joyful parts of me. All of the parts count and I think if we continually only curate the joyful parts, we miss the depths we have to go to find the joy. I also thought it would be helpful to post some inspiration that helped me through this week. After all, we only have each other.

And a few others here…

“The world is a prism, not a window. Wherever we look, we find new refractions.” -Zoë Schlanger

“Authentic love is of one piece. How we love anything is how we love everything.” –Richard Rohr

Surprise of the week:

And just listening to this over and over and over again…

Sending lots of love and hopeful determination to all of you!

Categories: Community, Uncategorized

13 years later and the CSA Challenge is back.

Posted on June 1, 2024

FoodRevival started when I was laid off from my publishing job. I had a 3-month severance and started volunteering with what was then known as Jones Valley Urban Farm. In exchange for my work each week working on their paypal accounts, newsletters, and coordinating events, I got a box of food. That was the very first time I was introduced to the idea of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) box. I started FoodRevival as a way to keep my publishing world alive (the layoff was a bit of a shock and I wasn’t sure what this magazine major would do with her life). I decided to start documenting what I did each week with my CSA box. I called it the “CSA Challenge.” From there, I started my own food revival of sorts…which also put me on a path to where I am today. This was me in 2010 with my CSA bag.

Little did I know I’d end up being the Executive Director of what is now Jones Valley Teaching Farm all these years later. I also had no idea I’d still be writing on FoodRevival. And now, I’m excited to say that I’m bringing back the “CSA Challenge,” which has its own interesting roots. You see, our Downtown Farm Manager, Katie, was a high school student interning on the downtown farm and that’s when I first met her waaaaaaaaaay back in 2009 or 2010(?) when I started volunteering at the farm and although we both left for a period of time, we get to work with each other again. And because Katie is Katie, she is launching a staff-wide CSA so that we can all be part of the food system we are creating no matter what job we do at Jones Valley Teaching Farm.

It’s all so strange and serendipitous and meaningful and interesting, isn’t it? I’m proud of how the foundation of what first drew me to this work remains. I’m so very glad that I had the opportunity to evolve with and without the organization. I’m grateful for the many ways Jones Valley Teaching Farm has been a place for growth, change, challenge, and hopefully healing. I’m grateful to keep learning about the way these vegetables continue to inspire me. I am so very grateful to the farmers that make this work happen every day in rain, heat, humidity, cold, and everything in between — it is important, vital, and meaningful work that isn’t often recognized for the kind of community-building, nourishment, and healing farming provides. I’m here for the roads ahead – filled with more bumps, bruises, continued growth, joy, wonder, and yes, CSA Challenges.

Here’s what was in my bag:

Frisee

Scallions

Turnips

Dill

Parsley

Cutting Celery

Carrots

I decided to cut up the carrots and turnips, toss them in olive oil, salt, and pepper, and grilled them! Throughout the week I added them to a bowl of jasmine rice and topped with some chili crunch. So good. (Forgot to take a photo, so you have to use your imagination. We still have imagination, right? Checking because I’m not sure…)

I also grilled some small potatoes on the Blackstone with olive oil, salt, and pepper and then once they were cooled, made a potato salad using the scallions, dill, cutting celery, and parsley. (I did take a photo of this dish, but it’s not great — so let’s use our imagination again.)

I gave the frisee to my Mom for her salads this week. (A reminder to share, share, share with others.)

Bonus: I got some peaches from my Mom’s tree in her backyard. I boiled them for like a minute, then threw them in an ice bath, and then rejoiced as the fuzzy peeling just came right off. I cut them up, added some lemon juice, and put them in the freezer so I could have peach smoothies this week.

In addition to all of that, we also made some Smash Burgers, charred broccoli, more potatoes, and some chicken bites for salads, etc.

Oh, and I made some protein pancakes for the week. I just put 1 ½ cups of rolled oats, 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder, 3 teaspoons of baking powder, 3 eggs, a splash of almond milk, and ½ cup of cottage cheese (for extra protein) in a blender. Then I pan-fried them in some coconut oil. I’m excited to spread some PB2 on them for breakfasts next week.

Grateful for all of it,

Categories: Community, Jones Valley Teaching Farm, meal prep

Tagged: community-supported-agriculture, CSA, CSA Challenge, farming, Fresh Produce, local-farmers

Aurora in Alabama

Posted on May 11, 2024

Last night I was on my porch scrolling through my feeds, reading articles, and attempting to finish some of the NYT games I didn’t get a chance to complete that morning. My week was long and hard and complex and inspiring and exciting and I’m not going to lie — all of those feelings were overwhelming to this leo-and-only-child empath (who also happens to be an external processor). Not in a depleting way, but in a curious-and-tired kind of way. So as I was winding down, I heard an owl. Now, I don’t normally hear owls from my porch, so I perked up a bit. Then out of nowhere a few folks started posting photos of pink and purple skies. I really perked up. Northern Lights! In Alabama? No way.

If you’ve been following me for a while, you know I am obsessed with two things: Svalbard and Northern Lights. Okay, I’m also obsessed with Dolly Parton, Jones Valley Teaching Farm, things my kids say, and many, many, many things, but Svalbard and Northern Lights are a different kind of obsession.

My work and life and friendships and relationships and connections have evolved over the last couple of years. And I guess that’s been the case because my relationship with myself (along with some lifestyle choices) has evolved.

In my youth-and-food-focused non-profit work, I have been talking a lot about holding the “both/and.” How it is important to acknowledge the broken systems while also creating space for joy, wonder, and awe in the work we do. Especially if we are focusing on youth. This week was a personal test to practice all of that “both/and” stuff.

You see, I am excitedly dreaming of building new systems to expand our work in Birmingham AND at the same time I’ve had to confront existing systems head-on. I’ve had to dig deep to understand different points of view while holding my own lived experiences front and center. I’ve celebrated and been inspired by personal and organizational change. I’ve been dreaming about the future while troubleshooting daily challenges that honestly shouldn’t be challenges at all. I’ve also had meaningful, delightful, and unexpected conversations with very diverse communities. And I’ve juggled all of this while being present and not-so-present with my children each night.

Anyway — as I started seeing photos of the northern (southern?) lights from friends in Alabama, I ran outside. I couldn’t see anything. But then the sky started to look strange in one teeny tiny portion of my backyard. The trees were in the way! I held on to hope (like I hold on to hope for snow in Alabama) that I would get to see something. ANYTHING. A friend encouraged me to take a photo because it was harder to see with the naked eye (probably true about most things if we really want to analyze that advice).

I grabbed my 12 and 8-year-old and we looked to the sky. And as the 12-year-old snapped the photos — the pink and purple appeared. We jumped in the car to try to chase them to find a space where we could see them a little better, but we didn’t have much luck.

And so, we found our way back to our backyard. With that owl and the sliver of pink and purple with trees that I briefly wished were not there, but now realized how much they played a role in the experience. It was a gift after a long week to remember that joy, wonder, and awe can be found. The road to it isn’t always easy, but maybe that’s part of the journey.

This life and work is complex and complicated and hard. But it is also incredibly surprising, invigorating, mysterious, and inspiring. So I’m holding the “both/and” this morning and sending all of you love and light (especially the flickering pink and purple kind of light).

Here’s some more inspiration I drew from this week:

Speech to the Young, Speech to the Progress-Toward

Say to them,
say to the down-keepers,
the sun-slappers,
the self-spoilers,
the harmony-ushers,
“Even if you are not ready for day it cannot always be night.”
You will be right.
For that is the hard home-run.

Live not for battles on,
Live not for the-end-of-the-song.
Live in the along.

-Gwendolyn Brooks

And Maria Popova always inspiring me:

Seeking an Aurora: A Wondrous Illustrated Celebration of Earth’s Most Otherworldly Spectacle of Light and Color

And Myia inspiring me at the Jones Valley Teaching Farm Celebration Dinner at the Woodlawn High School farm.

And David Whyte…

“Breath is the very first thing we give to this world and the very last thing we are allowed to take from it. Breathing is what we do before we understand a single thing about our world, and the last thing we will do despite all of our hard-earned wisdom.“

And Putnam Middle School and Oliver Elementary’s Farm Stands!

And this gift:

And finally, Kaitlin Curtice:

Don’t forget,
my love,
to live.
Don’t forget
to bury
your toes in sand
and leave the car keys
and laugh at oddities.
Don’t forget to marvel
and feel despair,
to sense danger
and run from it.
Don’t forget
to take chances,
to climb mountains
that no one believed
you could climb.
Don’t forget
to love yourself,
all of you,
from every season
and every place,
because you never know
when they will
come knocking for
a cup of coffee
and an overdue hug.
Don’t forget
that you are alive
right now
until you won’t be,
and even then,
don’t forget
how beautiful
it was to
call yourself Home.

Categories: Jones Valley Teaching Farm, Southern, Uncategorized, Work

Tagged: Aurora, Both/And, food systems, Inspiration, Jones Valley Teaching Farm, Joy Wonder Awe, Southern Lights, youth

Using Food as a Foundation to Be Nobody But Yourself…

Posted on February 28, 2024

“To be nobody-but-yourself — in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else — means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight.”- e.e. cummings

This week has been an incredibly rewarding week for me because I have had the opportunity to see first-hand how our work at Jones Valley Teaching Farm impacts our community, our city, and yes…I believe it impacts the world.

On Monday, I spent the day with our Youth Pathways and Experiences team, which includes 10 interns and 3 apprentices. We toured HudsonAlpha and learned about plant genomics (along with many other things). Learning with and from young people continues to drive me and I was inspired by their questions, interest, and openness.

Mid-week I had the opportunity to test out a food truck concept with our Instructors. As part of the test, I interviewed our middle school culinary club members how they thought we should use the truck. Although they were impressed by it, they were more interested in how the truck could serve other schools without teaching farms and/or take meals to people who need them in our communities. Not surprising at all, but a reminder to me as I continue to think about how yes, it is important to give the young people we work with the best experience we can offer and sometimes that means that the best experience matters when it is shared with others. Phew. Lessons every day.

I also had a chance to spend some time at our teaching farm at Woodlawn High School in conversation with our farmers. While I was there, they left to visit a neighbor because he had stopped by the farm earlier in the week. He helped move some tarp, showed great interest in what we were doing, and invited them to his house to see what he was growing. They came back impressed with his backyard garden and had a bag full of greens in their hands – something he wanted to share with them.

Yesterday, I had the honor of participating in our Good Community Food Fellowship orientation. I watched as 30+ diverse individuals filled our classroom. Some brought young people with them so that as they could experience a field trip with one of our Instructors. It was full circle for me – we were all united in dreaming of communities that are reliant on themselves and each other, full of fresh food, designed by and for the individuals living in them, and willing to go against what the world tells us so that we can create a better future.

There are systems all around us that encourage us to take the easy route. What I loved about being with the fellowship yesterday was that these were individuals from so many different backgrounds, communities, beliefs, and perspectives ready to challenge the easy route. They are, in fact, living out the quote I used earlier and refusing to let the world make them everybody else. They are willing to be vulnerable and learn how to grow, cook, and share food with each other and create a new way to live in community and with each other.

And finally, as we closed out the day, I was reminded of why Jones Valley Teaching Farm must start with young people. We want them to know that it is possible to create new ways of being in community, taking care of ourselves and each other, participating in the educational system, learning, questioning, growing, and everything in between. I hope that in the upcoming years our Fellowship orientation will include many of the young people going through Jones Valley Teaching Farm’s Good School Food model. I envision them sharing their expertise with others and celebrating the ways they recreated systems to work in favor of community with fresh food, resiliency, land stewardship, and care for others at the heart of it all.

To close, I thought I’d include something I saw at Putnam Middle School’s Teaching Farm because I think it perfectly captures our work so well:

Categories: Community, Jones Valley Teaching Farm, Uncategorized

Tagged: Birmingham City Schools, Center for Food Education, community, Education, farming, Fellowship, Food, Food Resiliency, gardening, Good Community Food, Good School Food, Growing, Jones Valley Teaching Farm, Learning, news

Connections

Posted on January 27, 2024

I’ve been thinking a lot about connections lately and the algorithm picked up on that and decided to send me this quote recently:

I am thankful to have many people in my life that exemplify this definition. They are life-long friends, family, partners, colleagues, new connections, and loved ones who know me inside and out.

Almost two years ago, I stopped drinking completely. I was tired of feeling bad and something tugged at me to look at my drinking as one of the reasons for that. In true Amanda Storey style, I decided to just do everything all at once. I started following a strict diet plan and eliminated pretty much every kind of liquid (except for the 100 ounces of water I ingested daily) for months and months and months (8 to be exact). I gained a clarity I didn’t know was missing. You get very clear on things when you aren’t busy looking for other ways to fill you up.

The clarity opened my heart and mind up to new things – new experiences – new people – new parts of me. It is/was exhilarating and scary. It is/was filled with certainty and uncertainty. It left me wide open to the world.

One of those connections was Maria Popova and her website, “The Marginalian.” It is as if Maria was hand delivered to my heart. I can’t even really explain the depths of her connection to me and my heart and my mind in this phase of my journey right now. I am fine with the wonder of it all. I mean, I think am.

When your heart is wide open though, you can get disappointed. You can get taken for granted. You can scare others. You can also leave everything on the field (isn’t that what they say in the sportsball world?). I do feel like I’ve left a lot on the field. I used to feel depleted by this, but I’m practicing the true and deep art of grace, vulnerability, and wrapping my arms around myself when I’m feeling a little bruised.

And then I thought about connections and Maria Popova arrived like she always does in my inbox to soothe, acknowledge, and see me. By sharing, she makes me feel less alone in my big feelings. By sharing, she helps me connect with others. By sharing, she provides a space for us all to be seen in the ways we most need to be seen at just the right moments. Here’s a link to her website: https://www.themarginalian.org/

And so today I am thankful for Maria Popova and the way she quiets my fears, acknowledges my pain and joy, and writes about the truth of life. It’s hard to find people like this and for whatever reason, I found her at the exact right time.

I am also thankful for all of my many wonderful connections and the way I continually learn from them.

Categories: Community, Uncategorized

Tagged: Connections, Inspiration, Love, Marginalian, Maria Popova, poetry, The Marginalian

(Probably Not Going to Snow) Baking Day

Posted on January 15, 2024

Well, I’m sure you’ve been up all night pacing the floors wondering if my little baby southern heart got any snow (see previous post if you are confused right about now). We didn’t. Shocking, I know. We still have today (and the forecast is only predicting freezing drizzle and temps) so I shall HOLD ONTO SNOW HOPE. And because it may (probably won’t) snow, let’s bake some stuff!

Let’s start this snow day (see how resilient I am?) with buttermilk biscuits (cue angel noise from the sky). This will be a potentially controversial post. Why? Well, I live in Alabama and I’ve decided to make Ina Garten’s Buttermilk Biscuits (let’s pause while I imagine her sitting with her coffee reading the news with Jeffrey while snow falls at her home in the Hampton’s.) See? I can already see some of you Southerners side-eyeing me and I won’t let you deter me from what I know is the truth. I’ve made MANY buttermilk biscuits in my life. I’ve used all kinds of recipes: the ones with lard, the ones with butter, the ones with lard AND butter. I’ve decided (and so has my 12-year-old) that Ina Garten’s Buttermilk Biscuits are the best and the easiest. There. I said it. I love Ina. I loved Ina even before Jenn Garner(see previous entry) loved her. At least that’s what I tell myself. So, go forth with your closed heart dear Southerners and let me make my Ina biscuits in peace. And if you are asking why I chose not to cut the biscuits out with the ROUND biscuit cutter (not sure if that’s the technical name) I actually have, the answer is “I have no idea.” Here’s the link to the recipe.

I had 5 overripe bananas staring me in the face every day this week and now that my snow dreams have turned into a freeze warning (snore), I decided to make banana bread. Remember those Pumpkin Maple Muffins I made yesterday that are almost gone today (no judgement, please)? I didn’t want to make another non-crunchy sweet breakfast/snacky snack treat this time, so I used this recipe and used pumpkin seeds (thanks to Sara’s encouragement) instead of walnuts and left out the raisins because I am not a fan of raisins in anything. Not even in Ina’s recipes. No raisins.

Let’s keep baking shall we? I mean, it might just…BE VERY, VERY COLD (my snow hope is dwindling). I just found this Hannah Taylor’s Instagram account and I am totally 1000% bought in. After watching EVERY SINGLE ONE OF HER POSTS (yes, I did), I decided to try this Dutch Oven Bread. Who needs to raid the grocery store bread shelf when you can make your own bread on this (never ever going to) snow day? Off I go to snuggle up with all of these carbs to watch the freezing rain.

Categories: meal prep, Recipes, Southern

Tagged: Baking, Banana Bread, Biscuits, Bread, Breakfast, Buttermilk Biscuits, Carbs, Dutch Oven Bread, Food, Hannah Taylor, Ina Garten, Natasha's Kitchen, Recipe

Southern Soup Will It Snow Cozy Comfort Recipes Day

Posted on January 14, 2024

It’s Sunday and you know what that means…meal preppity prep prep day. I have no idea why I just called it that. Let’s quickly move on, shall we?

Okay first things first: I totally messed up my back last year. It’s a long (kind-of) story. Seems I was on the road to messing up my back due to the aging process and some disc stuff, then I had an injury (yes, I fell down a flight of stairs at an Airbnb), and then ignoring all of that and proceeding to exercise 4 times a week without knowing what my core was. Whatevs. When you know better, you do better and thank goodness last year (and continuing on this year) two incredible women (Emily with Thrive Physical Therapy and Wellness and Linay with Steel City Pilates) came into my life like fairy dust and have helped me reconnect with and understand my body. What does this have to do with meal prep on Sundays? Well, I found that I’d do all of this wonderful body work during the week and then undo all of it on Sundays because I’d stand for 4 hours without paying any attention to my core and now I’m doing better. Okay, okay…TODAY I’m doing better (because Linay helped me see all of this last week). So for all you folks out there battling the aging discs, aching joints, and everything in between – be careful on your meal prep days because the damage can sneak up on you fast.

Second thing: There’s talk of snow, ice, freezing drizzle, freezing rain, sleet, or the potential to just be cold. That’s how winter weather goes in Alabama. I’ve already warned the kids and they are like, “Sure, Sure…we’ll see about all that.” Blargh. I refuse to lose the “it might snow” hope that was instilled in my little Southern baby heart many (many, many) years ago. Yes, I realize that I’m only setting myself up for disappointment, but I am Southern. I WILL ALWAYS HOPE FOR SNOW.

Today’s meal prep is going to be all about soups! I mean, why not? IT MIGHT SNOW FOR GOODNESS SAKES.

First up is the Minimalist Baker’s Creamy Tuscan White Bean & Kale (I used Spinach) Soup with her homemade croutons. I followed the recipe (mostly) and am really pleased with the outcome. A few things to note: if you use a larger can of diced tomatoes because you didn’t have anything smaller, just add more coconut milk at the end. Also, you should ALWAYS make the homemade croutons. For anything. Not just this soup. I mean, why don’t I do this more often? I could eat the entire tray. But, I won’t. I mean, I think I won’t.

Second, is Crack Chicken Soup by The Recipe Critic. I guess it is called crack soup because it starts with bacon, includes a ranch dressing pack, and ends with cheese? I don’t know why we have to associate those delicious things with crack, but I’ll go along. I needed another soup to balance out the vegetarian soup featured before this one. Okay and fine…I figured if I used all of those ingredients my kids would indulge me. I decided to do it in the Instant Pot while the other soup cooked on the stove. This soup is good. Very good. You should try it.

Last recipe today is Alison Roman’s Pumpkin Maple Muffins. I was scrolling my way through Instagram and stumbled upon Jennifer Garner making these. God, I love Jennifer Garner. Don’t you? Here’s the video should you need proof of how great she is. Also, I want those leg warmer thingies she’s wearing. Okay, back to the recipe. I made this as written UNTIL I noticed that my canned pumpkin expired in 2021. Whoopsie-daisy. How does that even happen? Maybe that’s indicative of how much I use pumpkin in my life. So, I put all of the wet ingredients together (even down to the browned butter part, which was supposed to go in after I added the dry ingredients) and waited patiently for my Shipt grocery order to arrive with the canned pumpkin. Then I just added the pumpkin, mixed in the dry ingredients, and guess what? All worked out splendidly. In Jenn’s video (see how I just pretended we were BFF?), she ended up having to make a bunch of small muffins with the leftover batter. I just waited until the first batch was done and made 5 additional big muffins. These are delicious and I’ve already had two today. No shame. The end.

That’s it for today because I’m trying to be thoughtful with this back of mine. Hope you are having a great weekend. Now, I’ll just go and obsessively watch the weather. Bye!

Categories: Instant Pot, meal prep, Recipes, Uncategorized

Tagged: Alabama, Alison Roman, Cooking, cozy, Food, Jennifer Garner, Minimalist Baker, Recipe, recipes, self care, snow, Soup, Southern, Steel City Pilates, The Recipe Critic, Thrive Physical Therapy and Wellness, Vegetarian

Favorite Combination of Words: 2023

Posted on December 31, 2023

As I’ve mentioned to y’all in earlier posts, 2023 has been about inhaling, thinking about, and celebrating words – in articles, emails, songs, poetry, posts, quotes, books, and the list goes on and on. I can’t get enough of them. I mean, can you even imagine how many words we haven’t read or heard in our lifetimes? On the On Being podcast, Krista Tippet interviewed Reid Hoffman about AI and Chat GPT-4. He said that Chat GPT-4 was trained on two trillion-plus words, which is more than we could read in HUNDREDS of lifetimes. Whoa. Just thinking about that makes me realize how much we can’t physically take in, but it is also inspiring to think how much more there always is to learn. Yay words.

Today, Maria Popova (the person I’d credit with helping me appreciate words more this year) shared an article by Frank Bruni where he listed the “Best Sentences of 2023.” Yay! More words! This was inspiration for me to go back over my year to find some of the best sentences/quotes/poems I discovered this year – the ones that moved and inspired me. I keep them catalogued in my notes tab, saved as jpegs on my desktop, and documented in emails to friends and colleagues. I have many more words to share than the ones I list below– in emails from friends, in conversations with my kids, in speeches I’ve listened to, and I even found a few quotes I wrote down that I have NO idea who said them. So. Many. Words.

I’ll start my list with one of the sentences Frank Bruni used in his article by the one and only, my pretend BFF, Maria Popova. Truth be told, many of the quotes I include on this list, I found on Maria Popova’s website, The Marginalian. I highly recommend subscribing to her newsletter and following her on the socials.

“We were never promised any of it — this world of cottonwoods and clouds — when the Big Bang set the possible in motion. And yet here we are, atoms with consciousness, each of us a living improbability forged of chaos and dead stars. Children of chance, we have made ourselves into what we are — creatures who can see a universe of beauty in the feather of a bird and can turn a blind eye to each other’s suffering, creatures capable of the Benedictus and the bomb. Creatures who hope” – Maria Popova

“And so it’s just one — even in the smallest interaction with a kid, Krista, you can let them know that you absolutely see them there, and with all their intelligence and all their history and all — and like, it was electric, sometimes, to do that, because kids don’t always get it, you know? And it’s funny, because a lot of times — like when Despereaux came out, I would get asked again and again, Why do you think mice figure so prominently in children’s literature? And I always wanted to say, Are you kidding? It’s because that’s how we treat kids. It’s just kind of like you’re in the way, you’re small, you’re powerless; and it feels very familiar to a kid.” – Kate DiCamillo (via On Being)

Beginner’s mind is a readiness to always be in awe, to always be excited. Beginner’s mind is one’s mind before the hurts of life have made us cautious and self-protective. We can still be excited, we can still be in awe, we can still expect tomorrow to be different than today. —Richard Rohr

Katherine May explores what it takes to shed the cloak of meaninglessness and recover the sparkle of vitality in “Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age”— a shimmering chronicle of her own quest for “a better way to walk through this life,” a way that grants us “the ability to sense magic in the everyday, to channel it through our minds and bodies, to be sustained by it.” -Katherine May (via Maria Popova’s introduction on The Marginalian)

“Therefore, to write the books one wants to read is both to point the direction of vision and, at the same time, to follow it.” – Alice Walker

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” – Viktor E. Frankl

“So the structures and the laws of our country do not work for the least of us. In fact, they create and marginalize people. They create vulnerability, and then we blame people for that vulnerability by saying something about their own individual acts. What we witnessed in Katrina was not a series of poor choices by individuals. We witnessed the breakdown of a system, or: we witnessed a system working the way it was designed to work.” – Collette Pichon Battle (via On Being)

“Violence is what happens when we don’t know what else to do with our suffering.” -Parker Palmer

“But no matter the medicinal virtues of being a true friend or sustaining a long close relationship with another, the ultimate touchstone of friendship is not improvement, neither of the other nor of the self, the ultimate touchstone is witness, the privilege of having been seen by someone and the equal privilege of being granted the sight of the essence of another, to have walked with them and to have believed in them, and sometimes just to have accompanied them for however brief a span, on a journey impossible to accomplish alone.” – David Whyte, Consolations – Revised edition: The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words

“We are going to hit some turbulence ahead,” [my flying instructor] went on, “and you will learn something about your airplane…. If you tighten your grip on the yoke, you reduce the aerodynamics of your aircraft. You, as the pilot, actually make the flight less safe, steady, and stable. So, remember: When the going gets rough, fly loose…We must resist looking to the frameworks of the past to lead us into the future. Doing so is a way to pretend to control, to tighten our grip and reduce our cultural aerodynamic flexibility. Instead, perhaps we turn to ways of wisdom that cultivate intuition, patience, and ingenuity. We embrace the ways of a Mystic Wayfinder, one who purposefully gets lost in order to chart new ways forward. By getting lost and welcoming the reality that we do not have the answers or know the way forward, we enter a space of liminality and emergence. We are not attempting to fix “broken systems” but are, instead, summoning entirely new worlds…. We do not have the answers today. We have the wondering. -Rev. Cameron Trimble, via Center for Action and Contemplation

“I am aware that we do not save each other very often. But I am also aware that we save each other some of the time.” – James Baldwin

Tenderness is spontaneous and disinterested; it goes far beyond empathetic fellow feeling. Instead it is the conscious, though perhaps slightly melancholy, common sharing of fate. Tenderness is deep emotional concern about another being, its fragility, its unique nature, and its lack of immunity to suffering and the effects of time. Tenderness perceives the bonds that connect us, the similarities and sameness between us. It is a way of looking that shows the world as being alive, living, interconnected, cooperating with, and codependent on itself. – Olga Tokarczuk (via The Marginalian)

“Wonder is where it starts, and though wonder is also where it ends, this is no futile path. Whether admiring a patch of moss, a crystal, flower, or golden beetle, a sky full of clouds, a sea with the serene, vast sigh of its swells, or a butterfly wing with its arrangement of crystalline ribs, contours, and the vibrant bezel of its edges, the diverse scripts and ornamentations of its markings, and the infinite, sweet, delightfully inspired transitions and shadings of its colors — whenever I experience part of nature, whether with my eyes or another of the five senses, whenever I feel drawn in, enchanted, opening myself momentarily to its existence and epiphanies, that very moment allows me to forget the avaricious, blind world of human need, and rather than thinking or issuing orders, rather than acquiring or exploiting, fighting or organizing, all I do in that moment is “wonder,” like Goethe, and not only does this wonderment establish my brotherhood with him, other poets, and sages, it also makes me a brother to those wondrous things I behold and experience as the living world: butterflies and moths, beetles, clouds, rivers and mountains, because while wandering down the path of wonder, I briefly escape the world of separation and enter the world of unity.” – Hermann Hesse (via The Marginalian)

“Plants do not speak, but their silence is alive with change.”― May Sarton, Plant Dreaming Deep

“No experience has been too unimportant, and the smallest event unfolds like a fate, and fate itself is like a wonderful, wide fabric in which every thread is guided by an infinitely tender hand and laid alongside another thread and is held and supported by a hundred others”― Rainer Maria Rilke

“I cannot pretend I am without fear. But my predominant feeling is one of gratitude. I have loved and been loved; I have been given much and I have given something in return; I have read and traveled and thought and written. I have had an intercourse with the world, the special intercourse of writers and readers. Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and adventure.” – Oliver Sacks

“The scenery of the ocean, however sublime in vast expanse, seems far less beautiful to us dry-shod animals than that of the land seen only in comparatively small patches; but when we contemplate the whole globe as one great dewdrop, striped and dotted with continents and islands, flying through space with other stars all singing and shining together as one, the whole universe appears as an infinite storm of beauty.” -John Muir

“All paths lead to the same goal: to convey to others what we are. And we must pass through solitude and difficulty, isolation and silence in order to reach forth to the enchanted place where we can dance our clumsy dance.” -Pablo Neruda

“Gratitude is not a passive response to something we have been given, gratitude arises from paying attention, from being awake in the presence of everything that lives within and without us. Gratitude is the understanding that many millions of things come together and mesh together in order for us to take even one more breath of air, that the underlying gift of life and incarnation as a living, participating, human being is a privilege; that we are miraculously, part of something, rather than nothing.” -David Whyte “Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words”

“The transformation of the heart is a wondrous thing, no matter how you land there.” -Patti Smith

Truly, we live with mysteries too marvelous
to be understood.
How grass can be nourishing in the
mouths of the lambs.
How rivers and stones are forever
in allegiance with gravity
while we ourselves dream of rising.
How two hands touch and the bonds will
never be broken.
How people come, from delight or the
scars of damage,
to the comfort of a poem.
Let me keep my distance, always, from those
who think they have the answers.
Let me keep company always with those who say
“Look!” and laugh in astonishment,
and bow their heads. ~Mary Oliver

Forever grateful for this word journey and am ready for more! Happy New Year!
-A

Categories: Uncategorized

Tagged: 2023, Inspiration, Life, Maria Popova, On Being, poetry, The Marginalian, words, writing

Holiday Recipes 2023

Posted on December 27, 2023

Getting back to the food portion of this blog…I thought I’d feature the winning recipes we made during the holiday break.

By far, the Chewy Chocolate Peppermint Cookies were my favorite. They are so good and easy to make. I have had them for breakfast, for dessert, for lunch, and as a snack. I’ve also had two in one day. Ain’t no shame. Recipe is found here: https://minimalistbaker.com/chewy-double-chocolate-peppermint-cookies/

My second favorite had to be the Basque Cheesecake.

“Alexa…what is a basque cheesecake?”

“A basque cheesecake is…delicious. Make it.”

Done. It looks scary, I know, but trust me on this. Here’s the recipe: https://cookieandkate.com/basque-cheesecake-recipe/

My third favorite was a Buttermilk Banana Cake. It had me at cardamom. God, I love cardamom. Especially when I roast sweet potatoes or butternut squash, but I digress. This recipe also had me at “use your rotten bananas just sitting there on your counter, for goodness sakes.” Oh, I didn’t end up using the glaze as I thought the cake was just fine without it (plus, I served it for brunch). I took a photo and noticed the small crack in the top, so just ignore that. Here’s the recipe: https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/banana-buttermilk-cake

And finally… I made a dutch baby for the first time. Where has the dutch baby been my whole entire life? Why did I deny myself this option all these years? I also forgot to take a photo of it (and I even dusted the entire thing with powdered sugar so it was extra pretty). Here’s the recipe (I subbed in cranberries and orange zest instead of lemon and blueberries): https://alexandracooks.com/2023/04/22/lemon-blueberry-dutch-baby/

Happy Holidays,
A

Categories: Recipes

Tagged: Alexandra Cooks, Baking, Bon Appetit, cake, cheesecake, Cookie And Kate, Cooking, Dessert, Holidays, Minimalist Baker, recipes