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Cooking in Silence and Cooking with SEEDS

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Warning … mushy stuff and random ranting ahead…

I’m a pretty contemplative person in general, but there are three times a year where my pensive mind goes into overdrive–Easter, my birthday, and New Years (yes, this means that you can expect a similar rant in a few months!). On my birthday, thoughts from my reflective mind translated into starting this blog. And as we approach New Years, it’s no surprise that my mind is entering that hyper-introspective space again…

A few days ago, instead of cooking with some Pandora station blaring in the background, I cooked in silence. It was just me, the food, and a tar heel blue sky with clouds like whipped cream. It was really serene and I thought to myself, “how lucky am I to get this much joy from doing something so ‘basic’.” Almost a week later, as a guest ‘chef’ with the teens at SEEDS–while navigating an unfamiliar kitchen, with volunteers coming in and out, with one teen who couldn’t control his tears after trying to cut an onion with a dull knife :), and another teen swearing that we had to add three times as much cheese to our dish if we had any hope of it tasting good :)–I was again flooded with gratitude.

The first time in the silence of my home and the second time finding some sort of internal silence amongst a communal space, I felt gratitude. I found joy in cooking before, but something about knowing that after I cook, I can share it on the blog, has made each culinary experience since starting it, that much more meaningful. Whether cooking for our Brazilian/Latin/funk/soul jam sessions, guest ‘chef-ing’ at SEEDS, planning the menu for our second annual vegan Thanksgiving (recipes will be posted starting this weekend!), writing reviews for the BCVG, or writing about dirt and bottled water and mindful eating–each dish, each post has been a joy. And I am so grateful to have had the chance to share that joy with folks from all over the country (and according to my stats, from 17 other countries!!!).

I recently read that living in Dharma (living your life’s purpose) is like wearing a shoe that fits–it’s comfortable, easy, you don’t even know it’s there, because it is as it should be. But… when you’re not living your life’s purpose, it’s like wearing a shoe that doesn’t fit–each step is agony, pain radiates from your baby toe up your calf and into your consciousness, it’s all-consuming. Sharing and educating about food, food justice, and health, I realize more than ever is my Dharma. It’s addicting, it makes me feel good, it makes others feel good, and it spreads good into the Universe … what a great revelation to have!

Thank you to everyone who has supported ‘comowater’ and to all of our new foodbuzz foodie friends who get just as giddy about food and cooking as we do!

Happy (Early) New Years!!!!

P.S…. I forgot to write down the recipes for the dishes we cooked at SEEDS last Saturday, but the menu consisted of:
*Lasagna with (Homemade) Spinach-Walnut Pesto and (Homemade) Red Sauce

*Salad with Arugula (from the garden!), Parsley, Roasted Butternut Squash, Apple, Pear, and Homemade Vinaigrette

*Bread with Roasted Garlic and…
*Mosaic Cookies …YUM!!!

The teens did a GREAT job in the kitchen and were in awe that you could make pesto from spinach! I’ll definitely make the lasagna again and will post the recipe when I do!

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Tiffany M. Griffin is the woman behind Como Water, Washington DC’s premiere veg-centric cuisine consulting company. Through cooking classes, demonstrations, catering, and consultations, Como Water gives people the opportunity to learn how to prepare veg-centric cuisine that boasts maximum flavor, with minimal effort. Tiffany is quickly becoming a go-to expert on the future of veg-centric cuisine, and is a regular contributor to Como Water, the blog, as well as to vegetarian and vegan sites across the Internet. For over a decade, this self-taught, entrepreneurial expert has developed a set of tried and true techniques for making simple, delicious, and sometimes decadent veg-centric dishes. Featured on the Steve Harvey Show and other leading media outlets, Tiffany was born and raised in Springfield, MA. She then earned Bachelors degrees in Psychology and Communications from Boston College and a PhD in Social Psychology from the University of Michigan. She now resides in Washington DC, where she has worked in the US Senate and at a federal agency on issues around health, food, nutrition, and international food aid/development, and of course, as the owner of Como Water. Tiffany gets culinary inspiration from the food she grew up eating, and from her travels throughout Latin America, the Caribbean, Western Europe, and Sub-Saharan Africa. She is dedicated to sharing her wealth of knowledge on veg-centric cuisine with others and to help others live by her mantra—love life, live long, and eat veg-centric cuisine!

Comments

  1. Nikki

    You are truly inspiring 🙂

    December 14, 2010
  2. TiffKey

    Thanks Nikki!

    December 17, 2010
  3. babeshka

    I second that. Let's celebrate!

    December 21, 2010
  4. TiffKey

    What are we celebrating!?!? 😀

    December 22, 2010