Magic places

There are still magic places out there, half hidden and unsung of by the main stream
culture...
As a reader of Hudson Valley Happenings I am more and more drawn into the beautiful neighborhoods along the Hudson River, just beyond my doorstep. 
I am glad to be able to be so close to so many amazing places. 
One of them is this little gem: 

Rodger's Bookbarn in Hillsdale, NY is just the place I would regularly frequent, if only I lived a little closer. Being a hopeless bibliophile makes this just the destination to get lost in for hours.
I wonder if there is a reading nook....

And being so close to other lovely destinations like Hudson on Hudson, Hyde Park or Rhinebeck, this would be a fabulous day trip to explore. Maybe I throw in some apple picking...

Where to find it: 

Rodger's Bookbarn
467 Rodman Road
Hillsdale, NY 12529
(518) 325 3610

Images via Hudson Valley Happenings (FB) and google maps.

Nourishing body and mind on the road

I always love a good long road trip. The expectation of being out there on roads not taken before or using the familiar ones yet again to reach a beloved destination fills me with an unexplainable joy. Some yearning I fulfill in these moments, to feel being the stranger finding new shores, or a traveller on the brink of a wonderful discovery, may it be the bend in the road with a farm stand loaded with freshly picked apples or peaches, a fabulous view or the cutest village just somewhere unexpected...I am inspired.
It's the moment of being there, the knowledge that it will pass quickly that I absorb the flavors of these places.

Yet I have found traveling long distances on American highways can be extremely disappointing when it come to the food choices. Miles and miles of stretches without even the remotest possibility of a plain bathroom break, let alone a decent place to eat, unless you count McDonald's, Subway, Starbucks or any other cheap food chain into your options.

Rt. 222, diner near Ephrata, PA

Of course, I understand the American culture, the ways Americans at large like to eat when out there, often, I am sure, due to the lack of options and price considerations.
But I never really liked fast foods, their smells, taste and choice of ingredients.
It has become much harder since I became a rather picky eater, avoiding dairy, wheat and meat. 

When planing any trips I usually travel with my own pantry supplies, knowing that even simple soy milk for my coffee is hardly available at your typical road stop.
I'll stuff baskets with fruits, nuts, seeds, veggies, home made cookies or store bought raw bars, bring plenty of water and bottled home brewed tea. Unceremoniously I eat while driving or hand out little snacks. I perhaps stop for a cup fresh coffee.

But where to turn, once I arrive at my destination? Typical hotels have their classic breakfasts and I avoid them when I can.
So, while staying in Lancaster, PA two nights ago, to drop off my daughter at her friend's college for a visit, I was prepared. The breakfast menu at the hotel held no surprises. Nothing I would have wanted.

I had brought a small pack of plain almond milk, a tiny envelope with raw chia seeds, bananas and a few nuts. I had bought fresh Amish apples from a stand still open in town when we arrived. Before going to bed I prepared my  breakfast porridge. Mixing the chia seeds with the 'milk', I knew I would have a pudding-like refreshing food for breakfast next morning. All I would have to add were a fresh cut banana and some nuts.
After looking online a day prior to my arrival to find a vegetarian or vegan restaurant I was pleasantly surprised by a few good options. Not being very familiar with the town I had prepared myself to know where I would be going.

image via The Seed website

The Seed was my choice for a simple, but good dinner,
I had a gluten free wrap, filled with roasted sweet potatoes, crunchy lettuce and cabbage, topped with a spicy vegan mayonnaise. A side of vegan chili completed the meal. The place is a true alternative scene destination, political fliers, books and all. I felt right at home, remembering my own college days back in Germany! 
The girls cooking and serving were fun to talk to and they accommodated all my eccentric food whimsies. 

My daughter, being gone the second she met her friend, was at the mercy of the campus food options, something to talk about later, to be sure....

image

Next day, we headed for lunch at a small place downtown Lancaster, were we feasted on a very delicious vegetarian choice lunch! 'On Orange' is a place I do recommend!
I had an omelet, filled with a mix of arugula, fresh figs and goat cheese, additional some roasted potato/ tomato mix! I was great! The Swedish pancakes with buckwheat my daughter picked were equally lovely.

As we wandered the small and charming streets in Lancaster, PA I was reminded of many small towns I have visited over the last years living in America. There is something typical of small town American architecture, the compactness and the will to preserve.
The recent recession has left a mark on many small towns, boarded up homes and closed, vacant storefronts telling the story. And yet I find always the spirit of renewal, a small cafe, a brave little shop, trying to sell anything from soaps to home made cakes, the spirit of survival and perseverance. I love this about America. I support it too whenever I can.

image Central Market in Lancaster, PA

I love to talk to the people, the shop girls, the farmer with his young son by his side only yesterday in Lancaster at the Central Market. These are hard working people with a humble lifestyle, at a first glance they seem to have what they need.

Later we drove out to the Amish country, visiting the small villages of Bird in Hand, Leola, Smoketown. Only a few minutes away from main stream America a world is hidden, a delightful landscape unfolds. Rolling hills, horse and buggy on the road, the landscape is dotted with single farms. There are countless neat fields stretching to the horizon, clean, white painted houses, most of them with large orchards or gardens attached, filled with rows and rows of vegetables, waiting to be harvested. Strands of freshly laundered clothes, swinging in the late summer breeze.
 

Amish school

Amish markets are filled with traditional foods, delicious preserves, pickled vegetables, fried chicken, sausages and sauerkraut. 
They have their sweets, incredible fudge and shoofly pie.....

Image

There is surely more, but this is what I remember. We picked a few things to bring home: Sugar free plum preserve, spicy dill pickles, sauerkraut.
I wondered afterwards, how healthy the Amish diet is, but given the fact that these humble folks raise their dairy cows, tend to grow most of their foods organic, work the gardens and orchards bring in the harvests of corn, potatoes and more, I concluded they lived with a reasonable healthy diet. Their physical hard work and general restrain is something most of their American contemporaries lack. 

Image

My daughter and I talked about their lifestyle later on our drive home and we both thought it very hard to imagine to live without our daily conveniences. But there is something about the simple ways of living, the plain joys and the straight forwardness in the life the Amish lead, that intrigues me. I am again reminded of the principle values, which can hold a society peacefully together, which is growing in numbers. The Amish population has doubled over the last twenty years, to more then 280.000.

image source see below

There are a few things I will never fully understand about the motivations and reasons for their way of life, the lack of changing with the times and a certain assimilation I would expect from a growing society, but I respect it deeply. Perhaps there are changes, slower then I can see immediately. Given the fact that daily hundreds of people in their cars come to watch them, I admire their steadfastness.

horses and buggies via

I would not want to live my life this way, but I take away again the impression that we can exist so much simpler and still can be filled with wonderful enjoyments and delights. As I strive to live with less, I am reminded by my visit to the Amish how little material things we perhaps really need.

Coming back from this road trip I was grateful for the ease of transportation, our car taking us safely to and fro, having all the choices to reject some food in favor of others, seeing in one day a quite different culture and be able to share it with you all....






Images my own, unless indicated source.

Turmeric milk

One of the spices I discovered rather late in my cooking career was Turmeric. It is exotic and as a child, growing up in East Germany, I had never heard of it. Even later, when Indian food was known to me, I completely ignored it in my own meal preparations.

Only know, after I discovered healthier, often raw 'cooked' meals, made with many spices rather then just salt and pepper, after learning of the many benefits of herbs and spices in a preventive medicinal way, I found my way to Turmeric. It is also known as Goldenseal.

here

It is not to be missed: The deep golden yellow color and it's staining power make it surely memorably to deal with, from cooking utensils to fingertips all will be marked yellow. So be careful when you use it. An old t-shirt is preferred in the kitchen and stay away from white!
Bleach could become be your best friend...

turmeric rhizomes

I use turmeric mainly as an digestive aid. It is wonderful after any large meal, indulgence after rich deserts or cooked meals, which need a little help along the digestive tract. 
I found the turmeric root at Whole Foods on occasion and grate it raw into salads.
So far I mixed it also in warm drinks, but I learned of a better way to prepare it. 
This recipe combines the benefits of turmeric, ginger and raw honey.
I found it tasty, lightly spicy and yet sweet enough to easily drink as a tea. 
Since I am not using any dairy I substituted the milk with almond milk.
If you drink dairy, feel free to exchange the almond milk with regular cow's milk.

This spice is used as a tea in Ayurvedic practices for curcumin present in turmeric. It acts as an anti-inflammatory agent and remedies gastrointestinal discomfort associated with Irritable Bowel Syndrome and other digestive disorders.
It also lowers cholesterol, reduces platelet aggregation, inhibits proliferation of cancer cells and improves digestion by improving the flow of bile from the gallbladder.
It also acts as an external antibiotic in preventing bacterial infection in wounds. (cuts, burns and bruises)

How to make it:

Bring 4 cups of water to a boil, add 1 teaspoon of turmeric, 1 1/2 teaspoons of ginger powder and simmer for 10 min. 
Strain through a fine mesh into a large bottle, add 1 cup of milk. Mix it all up. After cooling enough to be just warm, add raw honey to your liking. 

I leave the honey until I am ready to drink the warm tea and then add about a large teaspoon per cup.

Enjoy!

Images as indicated and by V.Zlotkowski

On writing

These are the most honest and helpful tips on being a writer. Stephen King nailed it!
I've got the reading down, I write, now off to kill the darlings.......

http://azevedosreviews.wordpress.com/2013/05/30/stephen-kings-20-quotes-on-writing/

Be creative! Just do it!

Image via azevedosreviews.wordpress.com

Cleansing warming drink

This is a wonderfully cleansing, warming drink, feeling a cold coming on or simply to get warm inside. Just cleansing is a great reason too....

All you need:

4 freshly cut slices of ginger ca 1/8 inch thick 
Juice from 1/2 lemon
1-2 tbsp raw honey
1 pinch of cayenne powder


Pour hot water over the ginger, squeeze in lemon juice, and the cayenne.
Let steep for a few minutes, stir, add the raw honey when cool enough to drink! Add maybe a leave of mint or basil to decorate....

Drink 3, 4 times a day. 

Enjoy!

Image my own.

On the wings of a new book

Evan Burl and the Falling by Justin Blaney

This book fell into my lap on a Friday night. Last Friday night... I love intriguing teen stories, coming of age of sorts.... fantasy and mystery rolled in one.
Of course I could not resist the free download offer either.  By Saturday morning I was done.
As I begun reading, the old, yet every time new feeling of excitement and flatter in my stomach took hold of me and I read Evan Burl's tale in one go.... Given a few hours in between to feed the family and pick the kids up from school.
I am in awe of the amazing plot, which wraps itself in an almost timeless, yet futuristic setting. I had steampunk images floating through my head, while following Evan through the mysterious rooms, the cauldroen, the walls of the castle. The basic story follows a boy and his friends, mostly orphaned children living with him under the rule of his uncle, working hard for something untold, a frightening, magic treasure of sorts... Something which inflicts some with death, others with powers so large, it becomes almost unmanageable. Evan's self detected fate to become a monster seems unavoidable, yet he fights the demons around him, there is always this shady glimmer of hope to escape the foretelling. It's a wrestling with the good and bad inside oneself, the world at large and the people who have power over us.
The language is rich and the images are lush. Justin Blaney has managed to create a believable magic world, one, far enough from our reality to make it true fantasy and close enough to life to experience all the ups and downs of a teen, trying to follow his heart. 
The story is complex and rich, but I felt gently guided into all the different viewpoints. It helps to slip into the different characters/minds to follow the storyline and to get the picture.
Knowing that Evan Burl, Henri, Pearl have not finished their journey into freedom helped tremendously to overcome my slight disappointment with the final pages, there is just a little too much suspense for my need for  somewhat happy endings... But it makes me anticipate the next sequel with impatience.
I absolutely can see this turned into a movie, ( I'd love to be the set designer) and at the same time as an audio book... I love to listen to such stories.
I recommend it for all fantasy lovers and teens who love to glide into a different world, yet close to their own feelings.




Image via Goodreads.

Little snack

Sometimes I crave a little snack in between. Different, tasty and zesty!
Being German, I love pumpernickel. But not every type will do. I go for the original, around here fairly available: 

The Baker - Company's, making organic, moist pumpernickel, just as I used to eat it back in Dresden as a child.
I topped it here with Guacamole, mixed with miso paste for added nutrition, cut some mixed leftover lettuce leaves and decorate it with cherry tomatoes. Drizzle fresh lemon juice and.... voila! A tasty treat!

It's also wonderful with butter and quark, a sour cream like
fermented dairy product, very common in Germany, topped with thinly sliced green onions, hmmm, it's especially delicious. 

xoxo

Photo my own.