A diet of wholesome, locally grown seasonal foods lays a foundation for clear, open and living thinking, a healthy inner life of feeling, and a strong will to fulfill our life's tasks and purposes. A strong, flexible body with a healthy inner life is the chalice and instrument for true listening to the song of the world, and receiving insight into soul/spirit wisdom.
If we want to answer the question of what we should eat and which foods are good for us, we each have to enter into this chalice and listen deeply to our own true knowing. We alone know the answers to the questions. We can learn to cultivate this inner knowing. It can be sensed in a real bodily way. If we pause for a minute and in silence connect with our inner being, we can clearly feel whether we are weighted down in our body and mind, or too nervous and skittish. With practice we will be able to sense what is making us feel heavy or flighty and what dietary and life style changes can help change this feeling. Have you noticed if you feel different after eating for example root vegetables as opposed to fruits? Cut up a couple of carrots and cook them in a little water for 10-15 minutes. Then cut similar size pieces of apples and cook them the same way. Eat one dish several hours after the other. Try the experiment over a couple of days and observe any changes in thinking, emotions or physical being. Every food we eat effects us. Our being is changed by the food we eat.
When we enter into this inner knowing, which is more in the realm of the heart than in the mind, we take part in the wisdom of the world. We experience how our body and inner being belong to the activities of the earth and cosmos. As we attend to these activities with genuine awareness, we come to know life and the universal wisdom in all of creation. Gratitude, wonder and awe open us to a place of receptivity to the world and its processes and rhythms. Creating beautiful, nourishing meals that resonate with the wisdom and harmony in nature is like living our lives as an open unfolding work of art.
We can approach the year as an archetypal imagination of becoming; each season moving to the next and returning to where it started. Cooking with nature and her rhythms invites a spiraling cyclic path and the possibility to meet each time of year again and again in a new way. It encourages an inner development of mobility and flexibility and deepens understanding and enriches life year after year. We are given an opportunity to grow and learn and the freedom to support health and harmony in the world. It is an awesome experience and it is a great responsibility.
My book,
Cooking for the Love of the World, Awakening to our Spirituality Through Cooking, encourages everyone to develop a new and fresh relationship with the world through the art of cooking. In addition it contains many simple, and elegant seasonal recipes as well as practices and explorations. These exercises engage our will, enliven our imagination and create heart-felt understanding of the natural world we are part of. Realities come about through what lives. When these explorations are accompanied by true feelings, then the content of the book will no longer remain only intellectual understanding or just a book of recipes. Instead it will awaken true knowledge of ourselves and the world without which we cannot bring about real change in our life. We all can come to experience an inner radiance, which will permeate the depth of our being and everyone and everything around us.
Hot Spiced Glogg
Hot-spiced winter drinks are common in many countries. They are often made with red wine and strong liquor. Red berry juices made with blueberries or elderberries are a healthier alternative. Serve in small glasses.
1/2 cup almonds
2 cups water
1 quart red wine or 1 quart dark berry juice
1/2 tablespoon whole cloves
3-4 whole cinnamon sticks
1/2 cup raisins
Sweeten with honey, or maple syrup if necessary
1 orange cut in slices
Boil 2 cups water and pour over the almonds. Let sit for 10 minutes. Slip peels off the almonds and cut in thin diagonals.
Meanwhile slowly heat the juice or wine in a big pot with cinnamon sticks, cloves and raisins. Add almonds, cover with a lid and let simmer for 20 minutes.
Serve in small glasses or mugs with a spoon. Garnish with orange slices.
Happy New Year!
Anne-Marie Fryer Wiboltt is a Waldorf class and kindergarten teacher, biodynamic farmer, author and nutritional counselor. She has taught nutritional cooking and counseled for 25 years in her homeland Denmark, Europe and the United States.
She trained as a macrobiotic cooking teacher and counselor and studied the principles of oriental medicine and the research of Dr. Weston A. Price before embracing the anthroposophical approach to nutrition, food and cooking.
This Four week course will explore some of the many benefits of fermented and cultured foods,
and why it is important to include them regularly with every meal. You will be guided through the steps of making sauerkraut, kimchi, pickled vegetables, kefir, soft cheese, and yogurt, as well as get a chance to discover new fermented drinks such as kvass, wines, and beers. I will aim at answering personal questions around your culturing and fermenting experiences.
Intuitively we know that cultured and fermented foods are real health foods. Naturally fermented and cultured foods are an exceptional way to prepare different ingredients and some of the most important side dishes and condiments in our diet. They are often overlooked or not mentioned when we describe what we had for dinner, and yet they are pivotal in creating a well-balanced, nutritious meal.
They add a bounty of nourishing, life-promoting substances and life forces, almost miraculous curative properties, and a wealth of colors, flavors, and shapes. They increase the appetite, stimulate the digestion, and make any simple meal festive and satisfying. The course will be highly practical with many hands-on activities.
In this Four week course you will learn about the nutritional needs of your growing child and receive delicious, seasonal, wholesome nutritious menus and recipes on affordable budget so as to encourage children to eat and live healthy.
During this course we will explore the nutritious needs for your growing child.
We will discover how rhythm, simplicity and nourishing activities support a healthy child development. You will find new ways to encourage your child to develop a taste for natural, wholesome foods as well as receive and create delicious, seasonal nutritious menus and recipes that stay within the limits of your budget.
Cooking for the Love of the World:
Awakening our Spirituality through Cooking
by Anne-Marie Fryer Wiboltt
A heart-centered, warmth-filled guide to the nurturing art of cooking. 200 pages, softbound