Shahi Korma

Shahi Korma (vegetarian variation)
from: Indian Flavour / Jeeti Gandhi, 2002

1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 teaspoon cardamom seeds, pounded
1-inch piece fresh root ginger
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
3 tablespoons blanched and chopped almonds
3 tablespoons vegetable oil (or ghee)
1 1/2 pounds chopped mixed vegetables (such as cauliflower, potatoes, beans and carrots)
2 onions, minced
2 bay leaves*
4 whole cloves*
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin (preferably freshly ground)
salt, to taste
1/2 cup cream, mixed with 1 1/4 cups water
1/2 teaspoon garam masala

Place the yogurt, cardamom, ginger, garlic, and almonds in a blender and blend to a smooth paste. Set aside.
In a wide-based pan (preferably cast iron) heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions, bay leaves, cloves, and vegetables and stir-fry for 10 minutes or until the onions have browned.
Stir in yogurt/almond paste, paprika, cumin, and salt. Continue to cook and stir until all the liquid is evaporated. Stir-fry another minute. Stir in cream and water mixture. When it starts to boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer (stirring to prevent sticking) for 35-40 minutes longer until you have a thick gravy. Add more liquid if too dry.
Remove from heat.

Serve hot, sprinkled with 1/2 teaspoon of garam masala. Include chapati, naan or rice and kachoomber raita. Also goes well with mashed potatoes, steamed vegetables and a side salad.

you are beautiful

Miniature Disasters - KT Tunstall

(start at 0:50 to skip the logistics)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQ8oLP_VQPc

Miniature Disasters 

I don't want to be second best 
Don't want to stand in line 
Don't want to fall behind 
Don't want to get caught out 
Don't want to do without 
And the lesson I must learn 
Is that I've got to wait my turn 

Looks like I got to be hot and cold 
I got to be taught and told 
Got to be good as gold 
But perfectly honest 
I think it would be good for me 
Coz it's a hindrance to my health 
I'm a stranger to myself 

Miniature disasters and minor catastrophoes 
Bring me to my knees 
Well I must be my own master 
Or a miniature disaster will be 
It will be the death of me 

I don't have to raise my voice 
Don't have to be underhand 
Just got to understand 
That it's gonna be up and down 
It's gonna be lost and found 
And I can't take to the sky 
Before I like it on the ground 

And i need to be patient 
And i need to be brave 
Need to discover 
How i need to behave 
And I'll find out the answers 
When i know what to ask 
But i speak a different language 
And everybody's speaking too fast 

Miniature disasters and minor catastrophoes 
Bring me to my knees 

Well I must be my own master 
I've got to run a little faster 
I need to know I'll last if a little 
Miniature disaster hits me 
It could be the death of me

(start at 0:50 to skip the logistics)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQ8oLP_VQPc

Some RAD Lessons

August 25, 2012

Beyond the basics of learning to fish, to cook, to bartend, waitress, light a campfire, split firewood, work a front desk and a pellet stove, I’d like to share just a few of the numerous things my father taught me over the years.

Spend Christmas Eve watching “It’s a Wonderful Life” Whatever stresses you’ve been under will dissappear.

Never give up. Even on the Toronto Maple Leafs.

I learned to buy quality. Unless you see something nifty on an infomercial. Then buy quantity.

Dipping crusty bread into good olive oil, parmesan cheese and fresh pepper is heavenly.

I learned it’s ok to cook at your own wedding.

No matter the weather or number of diners, amazing gourmet meals can be served on islands and at campsites.

I learned that cast iron frying pans come in really, really big sizes.

If I asked him to be there, my father would always be counted on for advice on life’s challenges. Not that he ever needed to be asked. 

Ruby Island is a wonderful place for treasure hunts.

I learned that you can tell the same story to the same people a million times and they will still want to hear it if you tell it right. Storytelling is an art and he was a master.

Keep both eyes on the road. You never know when a flaming tire will come rolling down the highway at you.

Fish everywhere and often.

I learned how hard it is to be humble.

Fedoras are cool.

Be creative, tap into your unique gifts to the world. Then be brave enough to act upon your knowledge.

 

Believe in love and it will find you. If you’re lucky, more than once. My father was a very, very, very, very lucky man.

I learned to always carry a pocketknife. And a flashlight. And pliers. And toliet paper. Always.

Hornepayne, Ontario has the best Baked Alaska ever, especially delicious after a 'controlled landing' (NOT called a crash or emergency landing). 

If you really need to, you can sleep anywhere.

I learned that even if you’ve been to Shanghai, Guatemala, Rome or New Zealand, the best sunset is right off his dock on Pelican Lake.

I learned that even after he was gone that he found a way to let us know he was okay. 

I learned which words carry the most power.  “I love you”, “Goodbye” and “I miss you”.

Michelle Aura Davidson

for Richard Allen Davidson 1942 - 2012 

Seeds

hard not to be swayed
by the many whispered ways
cold hard cash seems to say

"I'll make things easy you see
so you too can be worry free
Refilling the want-what-you/they-want-now
make it up as you go" and not think about how

We/they'll return again to the poisons
that weave our cocoon, bubbled into our choices
that don't buy love or time or people back from the dead
all the money in the world wont buy peace in your/that head

And it's no small wonder we/they're broken
so few to show them
stealing innocence from youth
Leaves you wandering, few
who can teach them/us to garden, fill in the hollow
to candlelight down the path for others to follow

hear/speak the quiet whisper, "I wanna peek at your soul
where it goes
in the throes
What it has, what it needs
when the wind will blow the seeds
which grow from that, from us, home."

The Scientist - Coldplay

Come up to meet you, tell you I'm sorryYou don't know how lovely you areI had to find you, tell you I need youTell you I set you apart

Tell me your secrets and ask me your questionsOh, let's go back to the startRunning in circles, coming up tailsHeads on a science apart

Nobody said it was easyIt's such a shame for us to partNobody said it was easyNo one ever said it would be this hardOh, take me back to the start

I was just guessing at numbers and figuresPulling the puzzles apartQuestions of science, science and progressDo not speak as loud as my heart

But tell me you love me, come back and haunt meOh and I rush to the startRunning in circles, chasing our tailsComing back as we are

Nobody said it was easyOh, it's such a shame for us to partNobody said it was easyNo one ever said it would be so hardI'm going back to the start

Oh ooh, ooh ooh ooh oohAh ooh, ooh ooh ooh oohOh ooh, ooh ooh ooh ooh

February 2009

Kings and Queens

Nov 2011

Things that are made last literally forever
get tossed tomorrow, cheap and useless
Like how some people get treated, and feel
Because Plastic and "perfect"
Is too much to bear
These things others have created
Pile up in perpetual guilt filled feed back
loops of consumption, instant gratification
That comes with playing
Kings and Queens
On our thrones on bones
 of the earth
medieval gluttony in every house
Instead of one castle on every other hill
And making BobbleHeads and Kinder Surprises
Our crowns that outlast our childrens, children's, children etc

I had to Fall to see. And Fail.
And stand again anyways. Rebuild one shame at a time
Through pride in my gifts from Creator,
That something that truly lasts forever,  a legacy
To speak my truth like no one else can
To brave rejection, cold loneliness
Until my soul speaks. And I listen
To reach out to someone who still can't
Get up out of the Plastic to see
Imperfect
Beautiful
Short
Lives we rule

Things don't have to be white to be pure
I don't have to know for sure
That dreams can go a-flying
True Kings and Queens are built by trying