Credit: Google Images/Ben Aaronovitch

Time to Slow Down

As we head into the coldest time of year, the desire for quiescence and going within begins to grow within each of us. Reduced activity or, at least, more indoor activities, like reading, yoga, and contemplation by the crackling fire will help preserve our energies through to spring. Reading, baking, cooking from scratch all come to mind in this the slowest (and most flavorful, in my opinion) of seasons. I can’t help but share a bit of sage advice (from my own nutrition book, of course) about the best foods for the coming season, as well as some personal reading favorites that perhaps you, too, will explore by a crackling fire or scenic picture window.

The following is excerpted from “The 5-Element Guide to Healing with Whole Foods” (Lulu Press, Inc., 2016):

“Water is the element of Winter, the most Yin of seasons. It represents the completion of a cycle and the cleansing of previous cycles. Energies are stored deep within, as in the roots of plants and trunks of trees, as well as within ourselves. It is the time of year to be more introspective and less physically active. At this time of the year, it is essential to keep one’s internal core warm for good health.”

Winter Foods

Functions: cooling, moisten dryness, soften and dissipate hard lumps/masses, improve digestion, purge bowels; detoxification.

Foods: celery, barley, millet, soy products (especially miso and soy sauce), seaweed (kombu, kelp, etc.), sea vegetables, sesame seeds (black & white), walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds; mushrooms.

Herbs/Spices: mineral salts (in their natural, unprocessed form), celery seed, nettles.

Good Seasonal Food Choices

“Winter is the season of the Kidney/ Urinary Bladder organ system, where our root energies lie. Bitter and salty foods are contracting and inward/downward moving, which help us store our energies and keep us centered. Salty foods strengthen Kidney but too much actual salt can weaken it.

Include miso, soy products, seaweed, seafood, millet, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, celery seeds, and barley in your diet. Bitter foods include parsnips, cauliflower, cabbage, turnips/rutabagas, celery, alfalfa, rye, quinoa, chicory root, and burdock root. Roasted chicory root blended with other roasted herbs makes a nice substitute for coffee, which depletes Kidney energies, especially Essence, with its caffeine content.

It is appropriate to add some Yang foods (warming, acrid/pungent) if you tend toward feeling cold during winter months. One-pot meals like slow-cooked soups and stews are your best choices, and you can add in both salty and bitter foods to create a healthy, nutrient-dense meal.”

Good Winter Reads

Reading tastes vary but I know I’ll be digging into some of my favorite authors once the cold weather settles in for its seasonal visit. During the winter months, I have a habit of going back and re-reading some of my personal favorites. This is just a short list of mystery/suspense favorites: Walt Longmire series by Craig Johnson, anything by Michael Connelly and Daniel Silva or David Baldacci.

In historical fiction/WWII stories of resistance and spies (in France, UK, Italy), I’m loving Cara Black and her new Kate Rees novels: Three Hours in Paris (fictionalized account of a true situation dealing with Hitler) and her newest, Night Flight to Paris. She also has the delicious Aimee Leduc detective series in Paris that I’m slowly working my way through.

There’s also Kate Quinn (The Rose Code, The Alice Network), Madelaine Martin (The Librarian Spy, The Last Bookshop in London, The Keeper of Hidden Books) and a newly discovered (and absolutely addicting) series by Mark Pryor, whose protagonist, Hugo Marsten, is a Texan and former FBI agent, now head of security for the U.S. Embassy in Paris. He helps Paris police (Gendarme) solve homicides, occasionally with his on-and-off French girlfriend/journalist. Between Mark and Cara Black, I’ll never need a map to find my way around Paris!

Have a Wonderful Holiday Season – whatever you celebrate.

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I just finished reading a lovely little book titled “A Feast at the Beach” by Willaim Widmaier. In the book he shares childhood memories of his summers in Provence, France (what a terrible childhood he had) with his grandparents. What I enjoyed most was that he included some delicious, old-world, mouth-watering French recipes that his grandparents served in their cozy cottage in St. Tropez. The recipes made his story come more alive for me while I envisioned the smells, tastes, and colors of the delectable dishes. It’s the kind of book I’ve not read often but enjoy when I happen upon one. (This one was a freebie offered at a recent writer’s meetup, so of course I took advantage.)

Another book I discovered several years ago, titled “How to Cook a Dragon: Living, Loving, and Eating in China,” details the life and food adventures of a Japanese woman (who is also a journalist) living in China. It’s a poignant tale laced with the most scrumptious recipes for authentic Chinese cuisine not seen here in America, unless you’re Chinese and cook them at home. Aside from the food, the story is delightful and a highly recommended read.

I enjoy books like these because they bring together food, family, friends, and their stories. I love to eat good food, share it with family and friends, and write/tell stories. They are the parts of life that bind together families, friends, and occasionally strangers. Not to mention that the authors are generous enough to share fabulous recipes with the world – and I am more than happy to take what they have given and add them to my kitchen repertoire. Language, food, and family are fundamentally tied together and books like these remind me of that. Makes me want to plan a family picnic and have everyone bring a family recipe dish.

The books I mentioned here also use language (names and ingredients of the recipes, conversations between characters in the books) as part of the story – in these cases, French and Mandarin respectively. Because I also love languages (and have studied/dabbled in several over the course of my life), I see how it connects food to culture and people. It has always fascinated me, the way culture/language develop around the various cuisines of the world. That’s why I like Anthony Bourdain’s shows (on CNN) – he connects food with people and their cultures, and makes the food seem all that much more delicious.

Do you have a story to share where food is the centerpiece? I started writing a draft for a cookbook/family photo album years ago and it’s still a work in progress. But I love that every time I work on it, I’m taken down memory lane and get to re-live so many of the delicious made-from-scratch recipes I grew up eating. If you have a story like that to tell, don’t keep it to yourself, share it. Share it and let the world revel in the smells, tastes, and colors of your life story.