KIOS: Day 31

What a month it has been! A big thank you to Jamie and Shannon for running the Kickin' It Old Skool Blog-a-Thon! On this, the final day, Jamie and Shannon ask:

What would you like to celebrate about this month and Kickin' It Old Skool?

I'd like to celebrate showing up! I was very, very, VERY busy in the early part of December and I often had to miss days of KIOS and catch up by writing two or three posts together. And I didn't have enough time or energy to read or comment much on other KIOS participants' blogs. That was frustrating for me. But I kept at it, and kept remembering Rule #2: Have Fun! Once I started my vacation, I was able to participate more fully and it has been wonderful getting to know many of the talented writers and creative souls who took up this Blog-a-Thon challenge. 

I'd also like to celebrate my favourite December I can remember. I often struggle at this time of year, and this year I hardly struggled at all - I just accepted that there were limits to what I could do and cut myself a lot of slack. Participating in KIOS at a pace I could handle was a daily reminder of how to be kind to myself and also a welcome injection of fun and heart connections at a hectic time of year. 

I hope we all can do it again next year! 

KIOS: Day 30

Day 30: Favourite Recipes

This is one that I have been craving making for a little while. I thought I would share it because judging from the contents of people's fridges a few days ago, most folks doing KIOS eat pretty healthy and this is healthy, hearty rice dish, easily made in a vegetarian or meaty version, that I adapted from Madhur Jaffrey's recipe for Biryani - which, when I copied it, took the front and back of THREE recipe cards. This is much simpler.

You can double or triple the recipe for the spice blend and save some time the next time you make the dish. Or, use the rice spice in curries, on hash browns, roasted potatoes, steaks, anything really.

Simplified Biryani

Rice Spice:
Grind together in a spice mill or coffee grinder or using a mortar and pestle. Set aside.
5-6 whole cloves
1/2 teaspoon peppercorns
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon cardamom seeds (or 1-2 cardamom pods)
1 inch piece of cinnamon stick
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (freshly grated, if possible)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne

Main ingredients:
4 cups warm water
1/2 gram saffron
3 Tablespoons vegetable oil (sunflower, canola, whatever you like. I wouldn't recommend olive oil, as its flavour will compete with other flavours in the dish)
1 large onion, chopped fine
4 cloves garlic, minced, pressed or grated
1 inch cube of ginger, minced or grated
2 cups white or brown basmati rice
OPTIONAL: cubed cooked meat (left over lamb or goat roast is THE BEST, but beef, pork or chicken are also good)
1/2 cup whole almonds (unsalted, roasted or raw, whichever you prefer)
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup dried apricots, coarsely chopped

Put the saffron in the warm water and allow to steep.

In a heavy pot which has a well-fitting lid, heat the vegetable oil. Add the garlic, onion and ginger and cook until the onion is translucent. Add the Rice Spice and cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes.

Inhale the lovely aroma. Exhale.

Add the rice and stir well, coating all of the rice with oil. Add the meat, if you are making a carnivorous version of this dish. Add the nuts and dried fruits (please note that you can use a different combination of fruits and nuts if you prefer). Stir well, allowing all the ingredients to be infused with the flavour of the oil and spices.

Add the saffron and water, stirring to loosen any grains of rice that have gotten stuck to the bottom of the pan.

Cover the pan and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting and leave to cook, covered, until the rice is tender and the moisture has been absorbed (usually about 30 minutes).

Serve with plain yoghurt (or a raita made with cucumber, garlic and fresh mint) and garnish with fresh mints leaves or parsley.

Serves 4 (or serves 6-8 as a side dish)

KIOS Day 29

Day 29: Sunday Selfie - Future You

From the Wikimedia Commons. View original image here.

I was baffled about how to capture what I aspire to in a selfie. How can I take a picture of myself as I aspire to be?

So, I went conceptual. Some things I aspire to this year are: 

Freedom from stuff and attachment to stuff
Joy
Creativity (Beauty)
Community
More movement/dancing

These aspirations seem mostly captured in this photo of a field of poppies.

<3

The Beginning of The Great De-Stuffing!

Today is the day I undertake the beginning of The Great De-Stuffing!

This is probably the most daunting aspect of Tiny Living for me.

Here is what my living space looks like right now:

Oh dear. I wonder if I should share this photo. My space looks like it
should be on a Hoarder Intervention TV show. Yikes. Well, I guess it's a
good "before" shot. It gives some indication of the enormity of me
deciding to move in to a Tiny Home.

As you can tell, I'm not the most organized person in the world. I've lived most of my life in the midst of chaotic clutter.

It's all made worse by the fact that I used to live in a three-bedroom home. I was a yuppie. I had lots of stuff. Not too much conspicuous consumption kind of stuff. Mostly art-related (fabric, yarn, musical instruments), plus books and lots and lots of disorganized paper.

Then, I left that three bedroom home and went to live in a tiny urban 1-bedroom apartment. I got rid of a lot of my furniture, but kept most of my stuff. I was attached to it. And I figured the 1-bedroom apartment was temporary.

After three years of living in a packed-to-the-ceiling-apartment, I moved from Toronto to rural Nova Scotia. A friend offered me a lovely loft space in the upstairs of his home (which as you can see above is now terribly cluttered).

I downsized quite a bit for the move (especially my heavy, heavy books!), but since arriving home three years ago, I've been accumulating lots and lots of stuff. People kept giving me things on the understanding that I was planning to set up house-keeping on my own. Every time someone moved house, they gave their extra stuff to me and I took it – thinking I would soon have a house of my own and that this or that widget/book/record/piece of furniture would come in very handy. And so, the boxes have stacked up to the ceiling. And the books and bookshelves have staged a successful coup in my loft.

And then, I decided to buy a Tiny Home! All at once, a couple of weeks ago. And now I'm looking at fitting myself and my possessions into about 200 square feet of gorgeous converted-trailer heaven.

And so begins The Great De-Stuffing.

I'll be posting about it here. With after photos to take the sting out of the scary before photo above. With descriptions of my precious things and disclosures about what I decide to do with them. Stay tuned!

KIOS: Day 27 Final Friday

Here is the prompt from Jamie Ridler and Shannon Ridler's Kickin' It Old Skool Blog-a-Thon:

Here on our final Friday of the year, let's share a little bit about the year that was 2013

1. What will you remember about 2013?

Definitely the two music festivals I played at this year: the Pennybrook Festival (which I also help to organize) and the Harmony Bazaar Festival of Women and Song, which was a phenomenal experience. Also, helping to run the West Dublin Farmer's Market. And, this will go down in history as the year I made the leap to buy a Tiny Home.

2. What are you ready to leave behind?

I'm ready to leave behind a whole lot of my stuff! The purging is about to begin. I have until May to decide what I want to keep and what I want to get rid of... The process is beginning this weekend and I'm excited, daunted, a little freaked out and also very ready.

3. What's something you learned  in 2013?

I learned a lot about attachment this year – about how to maintain loving connections through thick and thin. <3!

4. What would you like to celebrate about this past year?

Everything. This year was aces! I love the way my life is. A lot of variety, a sense of being pretty grounded, good friends, love, tenderness, kindness, fun, laughter. I feel very, very lucky!

KIOS Day 26

Day 26: Ten things in your fridge

I'm not at home today, so I'll have to work from memory here:

1. Two portions of homemade chicken soup in a Corning Ware French White casserole dish. I meant to bring it with me – rats!
2. Three bags of sunflower sprouts grown by my awesome neighbour, John. I was supposed to take them to my mom's house for Christmas – and I forgot
3. My favourite condiment: chillies in oil. Om nom nom.
4. Four containers of yoghurt that are past their best before date. I buy it because I know it's good for me, but I just don't eat it. 
5. Two kinds of cheese: cheddar and mozzarella
6. Veggies: carrots, parsnips, celery, peppers, mushrooms, a leek
7. Eggs – fresh from my mom's hens
8. Seeds: sesame, poppy, pumpkin and sunflower. I like to keep them in the fridge so they don't go rancid
9. Cooked beans and thawed tofu, ready to make chilli when I get home (hope they keep - I MEANT to make chilli before I left home on Monday).
10. Dried strawberries. I bought them at Bulk Barn, but they are so sickly sweet they are inedible. I've been meaning to throw them out for almost 3 years.

KIOS Days 23, 24 and 25

I thought I was going to be able to post everyday once the work stopped flowing – but I forgot that I was completely unprepared for Christmas... did some holiday shopping, drove some friends to the airport, helped my folks prepare food and the days evaporated. However, I am awake insanely early as usual and finally have time to catch up. AND, I'm still following Rule #2.

Day 25: Holiday Traditions

I'm not a big fan of Christmas. For years, I got depressed and cranky for the whole month of December. I called it "H-SAD: Holiday Seasonal Affective Disorder". I've worked that out mostly and now, if I get H-SAD at all, it usually only lasts for a couple of days.

So, I'm not much for holiday traditions. I haven't put up a tree in years. But, I guess the one thing I do still like is stuffing stockings. When my sister and I were 12 and 10 years old, respectively, we first stuffed stockings for our mom and step-dad. They were so surprised! And delighted! We don't do presents in our family anymore (except for the kids) but we do still stuff stockings. Opening them is fun, but stuffing them is the best part. I stuff my mom's, she stuffs mine and we both stuff everybody else's who's in the house on a given Christmas. Everyone contributes to everyone else's stocking. Some things are wrapped, some are not, and we open them in a circle: everyone takes an item out in turn so we can all watch each other's faces and see the enjoyment of the gift. We try to stuff them with useful things - socks and mittens and pot scrubbers – but also with joke gifts – and nuts and fruit and candy.

Day 24: Holiday Disasters

Ummm, I don't want to talk about it. I'm just glad Jamie and Shannon are warm, if not internetted, and I wish safety and comfort to all who lack them as quickly as possible.

Day 23: Books

My very favourite book ever, is Franny and Zooey by JD Salinger. It's all about art and finding one's way in the world – as an artist, as a human being. It's full of affection, cleverness, charm and philosophy. A deep, deeply enjoyable and funny book.