16 January 2008

a state of being

in my stumbles around the blogosphere today i read..."you are what you do everyday."

what will i do today??

what am i?? what do i hope that i am? what am i called to be? am i living in that general direction?or am i wasting my perception on the reality of someone else? doing what another 'thinks' i should be doing? what mass media insists i 'should' be doing? ignoring the passion within my own soul?

once upon a time, the answer was a very sad "yes"...& then ever so slowly, i began to wake from this stupor. in quiet moments, i heard the soul-whisper of the Holy Spirit asking me deeper questions...i pondered those questions. i held them up to my life being lived.

things shifted.

i felt love & excitement well up inside my heart...little bits at first~~ then more & more...

i began to wake...to live~~~ with joy!!

the quote above, from my bloghopping, challenged me to ponder...i went back to what i wrote last summer in my profile: am i following God's will for my life? spending lots of time with my family? writing, traveling, cooking? immersing in italian?
my heart felt lighter after reading this. before i had written my profile, i thought about it for a few days. would my profile be goals i would hopefully attain? or would it really be me? from re-reading this i see more gifts to count...7. spending lots of time with D. & the children...each & every ordinary day...by phone or in person8. time to write & a beautiful, inspirational place to do it with a wonderful piece of machinery on which to do it...

9. travel dreams...planning that will, God-willing, bring us joy throughout this year & take us back to the place where i left some of my heart on the last trip ;)10. a kitchen that is more than enough, filled with bounty...a place that gives me joy, be it time to prepare something from scratch or simply re-heat a waiting treasure...

today it will be a re-heat of yesterday's scrumptious treasure. i found some lovely squash at the market just beckoning me to take them home. for a few days i could only allow them to languish on my counter, such was their beauty...
but soon, my conservative inner voice said: "you need to make them into a dish, lest they spoil." i miss their color on these winter days, but the soup they provided has been a fine compensation! what's cooking wednesday?...

roasted squash soup

to roast the squash...cut squash in half, drizzle the squash & a cookie sheet with olive oil, also drizzle squash with sea salt...roast cut side down for ~30-40 minutes at 375(skin will be shiny & you will be able to pierce squash with a knife when it is done)

after the squash is cooled, scoop out seeds & stringy center (save seeds to roast), then scoop the soft flesh for use in the soup
in olive oil over medium heat, saute 1/2 yellow onion & 3 garlic cloves til soft
add 2 c. roasted squash & 1/2 c. chicken stock...heat through

season with fresh ground pepper, sea salt & nutmeg...to taste
if you desire a softer soup, puree in food processor then reheat if needed

grate white cheddar or parmigiano-reggiano cheese into puree & serve

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Beautifully written post. Thank you :)

Shan said...

Everybody's making my favourites today:)

JP (mom) said...

This is a sacred state of being. xx, JP/deb

Rebecca E. Parsons/Cre8Tiva said...

yum...although today is in the 70's and dreary...the temp is supposed to dip in the next few days...so this soup will be on the menu soon...it seems that everyone is checxking in with themselves this year...spiritual explorations for sure...blessings today, rebecca

Unknown said...

One of my favorite dishes, but I've never tried to do it myself. I'm saving this entry to make when I get back home.