Cookbooks

Let's just say that I am not a very creative cook, but that I can follow instructions pretty well. I use a lot of books when I cook. My portion of one of the shelves in the kitchen is shown above.

From left to right: 1) Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer; this was my mother's, well-used and taped; 2) Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian; encyclopedic, my go-to book on everything, use it a lot; 3) Cuisines of India by Smita and Sanjeev Chandra; good book, but I don't cook Indian food so much anymore and some ingredients can be hard to find; 4) Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison; one of my oldest and dearest cookbooks, this is a great book; 5) Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero; for the vegans, great recipes, fun to read; 6) Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Perelman (see Parade of Turkeys); recent Christmas present, fantastic cookbook; 7) Tassajara Bread Book; what can I say, "the dhammapada of breadmaking" (see Waiting for the Snow); 8) The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart (see Baguette); everything that you will ever need to know about making bread; 9) 100 Great Breads by Paul Hollywood; some great breads, some OK breads; there are some typos and mistakes in this book, I'm sad to say; 10) The Tassajara Recipe Book; another delight by Ed Espe Brown, check out the Oatmeal Shortbread cookies; 11) Market Vegetarian by Ross Dobson; this little book has some great recipes; 12) Appetite for Reduction, another vegan delight from Isa Chandra Moskowitz; 13) 3 Bowls by Seppo Ed Farrey and Nancy O'Hara, vegetarian recipes from an American Zen monastery; 14) The Greystone Bakery Cookbook by Helen Glassmen and Susan Postal; this book may be out of print; a gift from Susan Jion Postal.

[NOTE: Sorry for the long post and link excess. I started talking about each book and couldn't stop. Happy, healthy cooking to everyone]. 

Ginger

A young vendor sells fresh ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.) rhizomes along a side street in Kathmandu, Nepal. See Kathmandu Produce for a sampling of other tasty items offered for sale by street vendors in this fascinating city. [NOTE: From the same box of old slides that produced Om Mani Padme Hum and Climbing on the Ponies].

Be Kind Whenever Possible

Actually went to the free public talk in Central Park to see H.H. the Dalai Lama in 2003. Beautiful Sunday morning. The place was packed with nice people sitting on the grass. Tibetan flutist Nawang Khechog played for about half an hour before H.H. came out. Spoke about wisdom and compassion and the fact that everybody wants to be happy in this life. He left the stage and the huge crowd of nice people slowly filtered back into NY city. Everyone with a small smile on their face. 

"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible."
- His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet 

Heading Home After School

Dayak boy walks home after school through the tembawang surrounding the village of Tae (see Jungle Gym)  in West Kalimantan, Indonesia.  

Buddha/Thief Nature

Am taking a Dōgen Study class which is looking at Chapter 22 of Shōbōgenzō on Busshō, or Buddha Nature (thx, Dennis). Am also about halfway through reading Shohaku Okamura's Realizing Genjōkōan: The Key to Dōgen's Shōbōgenzō for the second time. Thought the video was a perfect expression of the moment. Shows Shohaku Okamura talking at the Austin Zen Center about "Bu" (Butsu), or Budhha and "sshō" (shō), or nature. About how his teacher's teacher, Kodo Sawaki, said that we all also have "thief" nature:

"Buddha nature and thief nature are both a hundred percent; [we are not partly buddha and partly thief]. Depending on our activity as a practice, we manifest Buddha nature or manifest thief nature. "Thief nature" means we always want to get something and make it my own possession. That is thief nature".

We decide which one to manifest in any given moment.

New York Wolves

Paid a visit to the Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem, NY last Saturday. Established in 1999, WCC is non-profit education facility that promotes wolf conservation by teaching about wolves, their relationship to the environment, and the human role in protecting their future. The Center is home to three "Ambassador" wolves, Atka (Arctic gray wolf), Alawa, and Zephyr (Canadian/Rocky Mountain gray wolves), that form the basis of their programs.

The Center also participates in the U.S. Species Survival Program (SSP) for the Mexican gray wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) and the red wolf (Canis rufus). I managed to catch a glimpse and get a (blurry) photograph of one their Mexican gray wolves, M807 (shown below). There are about 400 Mexican grey wolves left in the world and only 58 of these live in the wild. WCC has 16 Mexican gray wolves as part of their captive breeding program. And these live about 45 minutes from my house. [NOTE: Go here for a webcam feed of the two Mexican gray wolves, F810 and M807].

Live at the Church of the Incarnation

It has stopped snowing, I made it to the office, and all is as it is. Koan resolved - for the moment. Wanted to leave you with something other than snow for the weekend. Video is a trailer of Balmorhea's performance at the Church of the Incarnation in Dallas. Nice. I really like these guys (see Balmorhea).

Still More Snow III

Three to five inches of white fluffy snow on the ground and it's still coming down. School is not cancelled, but has a delayed opening until 10:15 AM. Which means the buses aren't running. Which means I have to dig the car out, shovel the driveway, and somehow get Amy to school on the slippery streets. I assume the main streets have been plowed, right? And then go to work. Good kōan to work on for this Friday. Provoke the "great doubt". [NOTE: Image shows Japanese maple (Acer palmatum Thunb.) in front of the house (see Front Yard)].

Cows and Cowherder

The classic image from India. A dusty road, a herd of (skinny) cows, and a white-haired, bearded (skinny) cowherder with a bushknife and a walking staff. This image from as we headed in to the Biligiriranga Hills in Karnataka (see Amla). 

Behind the Signs

There are over 2 million road signs in New York City. They are all made by a team of 22 people in a DOT sign shop in Queens. Really nice video here - with some great accents. I ❤ NY.