In the Darkness...

In the darkness

Everything is black and white. 

Y'nowice that? (As my 4 year old says).

When my children were young(er), they called people so-called-black and so-called-white. I think that is most accurate, don't you? Because really, every one of us is a shade of brown - from very very light brown to very very dark brown. 

No one is black, no one is white

Except in the dark

Except without light

Our beauty veiled

From our sight

Until we remember

God is Love

God is our Light

This is where it gets tricky, though. The above poem is tricky, because some might interpret the darkness as a negative thing, and black as negative, too. How could they not? Our language is saturated with negative references to things black. So, I ask that you contemplate the poem with new "eyes". 

Good night. I'm going to close my eyes now, and be in the darkness behind my eyelids, and see my techincolor dreams. 

Sweet Breads Bake-off Challenge.

A few weeks ago, we visited my brother Khotso, and he had just finished baking a sweet bread. 

If I hadn't walked in just then and witnessed him pulling it out of the oven (not to mention the evidence on the counter), I would have sworn he had purchased it at a high-end bakery.  

Khotso's bread made me insanely jealous, and I vowed right then and there to best him. 'Cause who did he think he was, anyway - making such delicious bread? Breads are my specialty.  So, a couple of weeks later, I learned how to bake sweet breads. 

And now, I challenge Letsie James Khotso Khabele to a Sweet-Breads Bake-off!!! 

I am ready because I have 7 loaves under my belt and I think that's enough experience, don't you? Besides, I also have 21 years experience with yeast-rising breads. 

If you think this sounds like a plan, just holler!

inonge.com

Keeping it Simple

Keeping what simple?

Whatever the it is at the moment. 

For example, whenever I feel that the whole cooking for the family thing is too much for me, I bake. Yes, bake.

It's counterintuitive, I know. But it works. I am not above using reverse psychology on myself. 

Baking forces me to slow down... measure... pay attention. Visualize the finished product and the pleasure it will bring. I use my hands and connect with the ingredients. I am patient because there is no other option. I am taken back to my mother, and hers, and hers, and hers and hers... I participate in an ancient nurturing ritual. 

bread of life

bread is life

bread is simple

keep life simple

bake bread

break bread

eat

live

simple