{"id":78,"date":"2014-03-06T07:38:55","date_gmt":"2014-03-06T14:38:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/therealfoodchronicles.com\/?page_id=78"},"modified":"2016-04-25T12:23:36","modified_gmt":"2016-04-25T18:23:36","slug":"food-what-a-pleasure-a-meditation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stormysweitzer.com\/recipes\/food-what-a-pleasure-a-meditation\/","title":{"rendered":"Food, What a Pleasure + A Meditation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I love food.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1775\" src=\"http:\/\/www.stormysweitzer.com\/recipes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/farmers-market-fare-36.jpg\" alt=\"farmer's market fare\" width=\"650\" height=\"433\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.stormysweitzer.com\/recipes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/farmers-market-fare-36.jpg 650w, https:\/\/www.stormysweitzer.com\/recipes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/farmers-market-fare-36-595x396.jpg 595w, https:\/\/www.stormysweitzer.com\/recipes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/farmers-market-fare-36-450x300.jpg 450w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>I also love fabric, flower gardens, sunsets and brilliant paintings \u2013 mostly abstract and ethnic. \u00a0There\u2019s just something about the colors, textures, and boldness that draw me in.<\/p>\n<p><strong>And when scents and flavors are part of the equation, I\u2019m just sensorily overcome.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Sometimes I cook merely to eat. \u00a0Other times, it\u2019s about much more than simply sating hunger. \u00a0It\u2019s about the ingredients, the process of combining them (like when I used my hands to mix\u00a0meatloaf\u00a0ingredients last week), the sensations of cooking, and the pleasure of eating \u2013 especially with friends.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><strong><em>The way basmati rice smells different from jasmine.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><strong><em>The way pungent essential oils spit into the air when you <a title=\"Orange-Roasted Broccoli, Beets and Garlic Bulb with Pan-fried Chipotle Chops\" href=\"http:\/\/www.stormysweitzer.com\/recipes\/orange-roasted-broccoli-beets-and-garlic\/\" target=\"_blank\">peel an orange<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><strong><em>How <a title=\"So Sweet It Is \u2013 Tasting Honey from Around the World\" href=\"http:\/\/www.stormysweitzer.com\/recipes\/so-sweet-it-is-tasting-honey-from-around-the-world\/\" target=\"_blank\">honey<\/a> from Ghana is thick, smoky and dark, while the sunflower honey of Germany is blonde, delicate, and creamy.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><strong><em>The popping sound a ripe <a title=\"Garbanzo beans pop, pop, pop \u2013 who knew?\" href=\"http:\/\/www.stormysweitzer.com\/recipes\/garbanzo-beans-pop-pop-pop\/\" target=\"_blank\">garbanzo bean<\/a> pod makes when I squeeze it.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><strong><em>The way a <a title=\"Muhammara \u2013 The Red Pepper, Pomegranate, and Walnut Triple Threat!\" href=\"http:\/\/www.stormysweitzer.com\/recipes\/muhammara-the-red-pepper-pomegranate-and-walnut-triple-threat\/\" target=\"_blank\">riot of colors on our plate<\/a> seems more a work of art than a meal.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><strong><em>And how that meal makes me feel.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0When you take your time and enjoy the process, nurturing\u00a0this relationship between the food you prepare and eat and the way your senses respond, food becomes a pleasurable experience like no other.<\/p>\n<h3>Meditation on a Meal<\/h3>\n<p>Next time you cook or sit down to a meal,try this sensory exercise \u2013 a meditation on your meal:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sit down to eat your meal and avoid doing anything else but eating.<\/li>\n<li>Appraise your food \u2013 really look at it\u2026notice the colors, textures, the art of your food.<\/li>\n<li>Inhale the scents of your food. The rich, the pungent, the delicate and bold.<\/li>\n<li>Chew slowly, appreciatively. \u00a0Let the food slide over your tongue, engaging your taste buds \u2013 sweet, salty, bitter, sour. \u00a0See what distinct flavors you notice and how they combine.<\/li>\n<li>Pay attention to the sounds. \u00a0The crispness of snap pea, the satisfying crunch of an apple. \u00a0How about the sounds around you? \u00a0Dishes clanking, conversation, background music, etc.<\/li>\n<li>Feel how the meal makes you feel \u2013 physically and emotionally. \u00a0What do you sense deep down in your belly, your soul? \u00a0Heat, joy, delight, a tingle?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.5em;\">Each time you slow down to take pleasure in a meal, your senses will come alive. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I love food. I also love fabric, flower gardens, sunsets and brilliant paintings \u2013 mostly abstract and ethnic. \u00a0There\u2019s just something about the colors, textures, and boldness that draw me in. And when scents and flavors are part of the equation, I\u2019m just sensorily overcome. Sometimes I cook merely to eat. \u00a0Other times, it\u2019s about&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stormysweitzer.com\/recipes\/food-what-a-pleasure-a-meditation\/\">Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1467,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[219,123],"tags":[128,247,248,249,250],"class_list":["post-78","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fruits-vegetables","category-just-for-fun","tag-food","tag-meditation","tag-pleasure","tag-practice","tag-skills"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.stormysweitzer.com\/recipes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Tuna-cactus-fruit.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stormysweitzer.com\/recipes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stormysweitzer.com\/recipes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stormysweitzer.com\/recipes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stormysweitzer.com\/recipes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stormysweitzer.com\/recipes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.stormysweitzer.com\/recipes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1776,"href":"https:\/\/www.stormysweitzer.com\/recipes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78\/revisions\/1776"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stormysweitzer.com\/recipes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stormysweitzer.com\/recipes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stormysweitzer.com\/recipes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stormysweitzer.com\/recipes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}