Category: Food
Time to harvest
These days I am harvesting the wonderful fruits of the seeds of friendship planted in the seasons of yore. In the spring during a fundraiser which brought the community together in a way I have not seen before, I won two unique gifts: a day of fishing with a friend and a harvest of figs [...]
Resolving the omnivore’s dilemma
Many people make new year’s resolutions and one of mine has been finishing to read books I had sitting near my bed unfinished. One of them has been so fascinating, eye-opening, thought-provoking, that I want to share about it. It is called “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” by Michael Pollan, whose article in the New York Times [...]
Lessons from the T’ai Chi Chuan retreat
I spent three peaceful days in the Claymont mansion in West Virginia, once owned by the George Washington family. I spent three peaceful days in nature, nurtured by friends who practice Yang style T’ai Chi Chuan, ate delicious locally grown organic food, picked cherries from an old tree, and practiced Qi Gong. A great way [...]
International Day at Work
The Purpose of the one true God, exalted be His glory, in revealing Himself unto men is to lay bare those gems that lie hidden within the mine of their true and inmost selves. That the divers communions of the earth, and the manifold systems of religious belief, should never be allowed to foster the [...]
Random cravings
At lunch I was talking with two coworkers — one is a most marvelous Baha’i and the other is Chinese. The Chinese coworker and I were reminiscing on growing up in a communist country. He recollected how happy the old times were and how, with all the development the economic boom has brought, most people [...]
Beyond the limited self
Ever since I went to Bulgaria I have been contemplating on the question of what is authentic in me. The question was inspired by the observation of how much I fluctuated depending on who I was around. That was particularly obvious when I was around old friends who were not fully familiar with the meaning [...]
Jazz, cheese cake and hidden words
On Friday night we went to The Birchmere in Alexandria to see Tierney Sutton, a Grammy-nominated singer known to apply Baha’i consultation while collaborating with her bandmates. It was an outstanding concert of three brilliant musicians and a perfect-pitch vocalist able to turn the happiest song into a dark, reflective melody or a funeral-ready tune [...]
Baba Lyuba’s birthday cake recipe
In honor of my birthday, I will share the recipe for my favorite birthday cake. It is not a fancy-looking cake but anyone has ever tried it has praised it. This is a three layer cake where the top and bottom layers are identical but the middle one has walnuts. Each layer is baked separately. [...]
Going bananas over bananas
I very well remember the joy of having 1 (one) banana as the highlight of the new year celebration when growing in socialist Bulgaria. My father would wait in line for hours to bring 4 (four) bananas, one for each family member, and sometimes also 4 (four) oranges. Postponing the pleasure of taking the first [...]