An Amazing Recipe

My mother-in-law made this dish for John and I at Christmas, and we both fell madly in love with it. I prepared it the other night, and not only is it one of the best meals ever, but it's insanely simple. If you're a curry fan, give this one a shot; you won't be disappointed. Also, don't skip the fennel seeds -- they are the secret to the Awesome.

Curried Carrots & Lentils

1/2 cup dried red lentils 

1 1/2 cups water 

3 carrots, cut into 2 inch pieces 

1/2 cup chopped onion 

1/4 cup golden raisins 

2 tablespoons olive oil 

1 teaspoon salt 

3/4 teaspoon curry powder 

1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds 

black pepper, to taste 

1. Combine the lentils and 1/2 cup of the water in a 2-quart microwave-safe casserole. Cover, and cook at full power for 5 minutes. (If the water foams and spills over, which mine did, replace it with 1 or 2 tablespoons more water.)

2. Stir in the carrots and another 1/2 cup of the water. Cover, and cook 5 minutes.

3. Stir in the remaining 1/2 cup water and all the other ingredients. Cover, and cook 5 minutes.

4. Serve immediately.

*Note that cooking times will vary with the power of your microwave. Mine took considerably longer than the recipe states; on the last cook (step 3), I had to microwave it for 15 minutes total, checking it every 5 minutes and giving it a little stir. So just keep an eye on it. Trust me, it's worth the vigilance.

Source: New Basics Cookbook

Archaic Torso of Apollo by Rainer Maria Rilke

We cannot know his legendary head

with eyes like ripening fruit. And yet his torso

is still suffused with brilliance from inside,

like a lamp, in which his gaze, now turned to low,

gleams in all its power. Otherwise

that curved breast could not dazzle you so, nor could

a smile run through the placid hips and thighs

to that dark center where procreation flared.

Otherwise this stone would seem defaced

beneath the translucent cascade of the shoulders

and would not glisten like a wild beast's fur:

would not, from all the borders of itself,

burst like a star: for here there is no place

that does not see you. You must change your life.

Translated by Stephen Mitchell

Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Program...

So I know I said I was going to take some time off from blogging, but I've changed my mind. I'm going to continue with a slightly altered approach and just focus on the little items that stick in my mind. Pretty pictures. Good poetry. Amazing quotes. Maybe a commentary or two.

In short, all the things that comprise this monkey mind.