Butternut Soup
The colour ORANGE enhances a balanced SACRAL CHAKRA.
It is the second energy centre and the place from where we create and where we ‘feel’. This is where we find the depth of our intuition, following our gut. We hear enough about our gut health nowadays with so many autoimmune diseases and dysfunctions, so putting emphasis on gut health by feeding enough probiotics through fermented foods certainly helps the healing. Adding orange foods with its beautiful warm energy adds to this – ‘soul food’, is what I’d like to call it, healthy and steaming broths and stews… and of course… SOUP!!!
CHAKRA FOODS are covered extensively during our Ladies Culinary Wellness Retreats.
Feel free to print our BUTTERNUT SOUP. Make this large quantity and freeze it into smaller containers for the days when you can’t be in the kitchen, or the family simply wants Soup & Bread for lunch or dinner.
For details about our Cooking Workshops, please contact me, Marian.
THE ANGRY PUMPKIN
My years in the kitchen have deepened my awareness of emotions, personalities and intentions that are subtly (and sometimes blatantly) expressed in the food that is prepared in that space.
It is a fact that food made with love tastes really good and is satisfying, while the opposite is also true. We long for the food from our childhood—simple dishes that hold the memories of our mother’s dearest nurturing and dedication—the one who cared deeply, the one who set us off on our road to health. This is also the subtle underlying ‘ingredient’ that convinces us to return to the same restaurants or eating places time after time.
I routinely pass through the kitchen in the late afternoon, once the staff have gone off for a short break, to check the prep and readiness for the evening dinner. Chopped and julienned vegetables are lined up under damp cloths and pots with skewed lids are standing on the stoves. Table tops are wiped and shiny. The floor is gleaming and still damp in places. It is beautifully quiet and tranquil and I have the whole room to myself, while appreciating the last rays of the sun through the windows. I visualise the evening’s plating, the workflow in the kitchen, I mentally connect with the chef on duty and I rejoice at the beautiful outcome.
On one such an occasion I dabbed a teaspoonful of pumpkin soup from a pot on the stove into my open palm to taste for balance. Thick, deep orange and beautifully creamy it was. My anticipation matched its appearance as I rolled the lusciousness over the entire surface of my tongue, only to be shocked seconds later by an excruciating peppery fire in my mouth. I stood motionless for a few seconds to assess what must have happened a short while ago in this seemingly peaceful space.
Now Small Amos was our gardener at the time. Despite his small physique his feisty temperament was not affected. He did not allow anyone to intimidate him, nor did he let sleeping dogs lie. Justice was always at the order of the day—that he made sure of! It was also Amos’s job to mop the floor once the staff had left for their short break. As I stood there wondering how I was going to remove the burn from my mouth, I was also challenged by two other things. Firstly I had to find an alternative for the content of the pot (to serve for dinner), and secondly I had to find a way of confirming my suspicion. I also knew that finding a soup replacement was easier than getting the culprit to admit to his most uncaring act.
The next morning, once all the guests had left after breakfast, I laid the round table with placemats and soup spoons, and invited all the members of staff to sit down at the ‘testing’ table. I fetched the said pot of soup from the kitchen and started plating the steaming content into individual bowls, while explaining that we needed the staff’s input on this newly developed recipe. Sometime during this process I made eye contact with Amos. The suspense of that moment, the possible outcome and the realisation of his secret being exposed hit him between his droopy eyes—he knew what I was up to. With tears streaming down his face he jumped up from the table in one foul swoop and stormed outside. While everyone stared after him in disbelief I asked the chef on duty to have the first taste. She took a spoonful and no sooner did she follow suit. The private feud was revealed and I received the reputation for being the boss-lady with eyes in the back of my head!
For details about our Cooking Workshops, please contact Marian.
