Saturday, March 09, 2013

Welcome Spring

...with a damp wet snow.  You know it is Spring in Northern New Mexico when we get a snowy blast that usually freezes the buds on the fruit trees.  I am mostly ok with this as the blooms still arrive on the trees in a glorious display.  I have apple, cherry and plum trees.  Last year I froze so much plum jam, I will probably not need any more for another year.  I have a great recipe for freezer jam for those of you who are not fond of canning.  The recipe ( which I used on apricots and plums in 2012) worked brilliantly.  It does call for a smidge of sweetener, so I used agave.  I realize that agave is not all its cracked up to be, but the rare and occasional use I do not believe is so harmful.  Small amounts of agave also do not set off my sugar cravings.  :)  Brown rice syrup is too heavy for the freezer jam and I am concerned about the arsenic in brown rice, so I am staying away from the highly concentrated forms like the syrup.  Feel free to connect with me at macrojane@hotmail.com if you would like the recipe for freezer jam.

In a week I receive the Soto Zen precepts in the Peacemaker order of Bernie Glassman.  I will be offered these precepts in a lovely ceremony at Upaya by Roshi Joan Halifax.  I have been studying hard and making the rokusu was just about the hardest task I have ever done.  As I study Zen Buddhism more deeply, I realize how closely in alignment Zen is with Macrobiotics.  Zen is part of the middle path  of Buddhism as  Macrobiotics is the middle path of healing.  In Macrobiotics we always moving toward or away from health and working with our mind/body/spirit to stay balanced.  In Zen, sitting is always , for me, a challenge to tame the wild horses of my mind.  By sitting, I actually hear the noise I create every single moment of my day...leading me toward or away from stillness.

There is a new recipe on my site.  I changes a meat recipe to create a most delicious lentil stew with east Indian flavors.

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