My kitchen is a mystical place, a kind of temple for me. It is a place where the surfaces seem to have significance, where the sounds and odours carry meaning that transfers from the past and bridges to the future.
– Pearl Bailey

Our kitchen is the heart of our home – it is where all the action happens. It is so much than a room dedicated to food preparation and cooking. Discussions take place. Tears. Laughter. Disagreements. Ideas are born. Plans are made. Decisions are made. Winding up or unwinding depending on the time of day. Guests are entertained. Creative experiments take place. New creations emerge. Music is played. The odd dance or two is had. Our kitchen is a place for art in action.

“I have a great recipe we have to try,” said my youngest daughter rather excitedly when she arrived home the other day for a short visit in honour of Christmas.

“The chef at the cafe gave it to me,” she continued “and it is really delicious. I love it and so does everyone who tries it.”

Before I knew it Mira had us all organised to go off to the market to buy zucchinis and onions to make a batch of zucchini pickle.

“We can make this and give it as Christmas gifts,” she suggested.

“What a great idea,” I said. I still had a lot of shopping to do and this was a great solution for some of the presents I still hadn’t sorted. Every year I promise myself I’ll be more organised for next Christmas and before I know it Christmas is almost upon me and I haven’t done anything that I needed to.

Last night before going to bed Mira sliced all the zucchini and onion. She left them to soak according to the instructions in the recipe. This evening we cooked up our first batch of this pickle. Together we made decisions about consistency, quantities and timing. We laughed along the way and savoured the smells that wafted through the air. The finished pickle certainly looked divine thanks to the rich yellow colour of the turmeric. As we filled each bottle in a mini production line I felt an overwhelming sense of love for the energy and excitement my daughter has brought with her. Home is never the same without my girls around.

I think tonight a new family recipe was created. I can’t wait to taste the product.

Manifesto
04. Every day is an opportunity to cultivate the promise of the future.
09. Every day learn something new.
18. Every day express love. Some people need to hear it. Most people need to see it. Don’t take it for granted.

Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.
– Dr. Seuss

It was time for a coffee.

I went into the kitchen, picked up the electric jug and filled it with clean water that flowed freely from a tap in the sink. I switched the jug on. While I waited for the water to boil I ground some coffee beans (there’s nothing quite like coffee made with freshly ground beans) using our electric grinder.

I reached into one of the many cupboards in our kitchen and grabbed two clean coffee mugs (thank goodness for the plumbed in functioning dishwasher sitting beneath the kitchen sink).

The jug had boiled so I poured the hot water over the ground beans I had spooned into the plunger.

While the coffee was brewing I reached into the fridge for the fresh pastuerised milk stored there. I poured some in each coffee mug and then placed the mugs in the microwave – Lynsey likes his coffee “hot, very hot, oh my god holy cow hot” (he even asks for it this way when he orders it in cafes and restaurants). When I heard the bing of the microwave I removed the coffee mugs, placed them on the bench, pressed down the plunger and poured the dark brown coffee water into the mugs.

Almost ready … one more thing to do. Lynsey has a teaspoon of sugar in his coffee. I reach into the cutlery drawer, took out a clean teaspoon (so many to choose from), and reached for the sugar jar.

Voila, two mugs of coffee ready to go and I couldn’t wait to drink mine. This whole process took maybe 5 minutes from beginning to end.

Imagine if I had had to go to a well to get the water before I could do anything. Imagine if the water wasn’t clean – full of bugs and disease, not fit for human consumption. Imagine if there wasn’t any water, anywhere in the immediate vicinity. Imagine … imagine how life would be different.

Little things are not really little, they can be incredibly big and have a huge impact on us. I expect to have hot and cold running water in my home. I expect to be able to have a shower whenever I want in my home. I expect to have a functional toilet to use. These are not luxuries, they are the basic necessities of life. I could list a huge number of things that we expect to have access to in our homes and outside of them. How often do we think about how lucky we are to have what we have at our fingertips – water, power, food, shelter, health care, education, work. I know none of it is given to us, we have to work for it, but at least we can. We have options and we can make choices about how we live.

I often think what I do is insignificant – it makes no difference to anyone anywhere – yet in my heart I know this is not true. We can, and do, make a difference to others by making ourselves available to them and having an open mind. It is always good to be reminded to be grateful for what we have and not take it for granted. The power of one can be a mighty voice in bringing about change  so we shouldn’t let it remain silent or idle.

Manifesto
11. Every day do something for someone else.
15. Every day make a difference to yourself and others.
26. Every day take action. Every small step counts.

The ordinary arts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest.
– Thomas Moore

I woke tired, even after a good nights sleep. The origins of this tiredness lies deep within my being. My soul is crying out “nurture me, stop ignoring me” and I need to start listening to it. Fortunately we have a long (as in 3 day) weekend ahead of us – maybe … I’ll make a start today, but where do I begin?

I thought about the long To Do list Lynsey and I had talked about for this weekend (as always the list is longer than can realistically be achieved in the time available to us). It included endless household chores like cleaning, dusting, washing etc. I wondered how doing all these things was going to connect me to my soul and make me feel more alive, more energised.

Sarah Ban Breathnach, in her inspiring book Romancing the Ordinary writes about the sacred endeavour of housekeeping. She views these these mundane tasks as a way of bringing balance between the sensuous and the spiritual. Let’s face it, our homes are sacred spaces (well, our home is to us), and by giving them the attention they deserve we are honouring a need in our souls. I love this quote from Sarah’s book:

In places and people, we seek that elusive feeling of being welcomed. We want our houses and apartments to be warm and nurturing and beautiful, but they are sometimes territories of chaos and confusion … Yet, the haven the soul seeks is close at hand, within the stove and the cupboard, on the bookshelf, and in the closet. With the eyes to see it, and the hands to create it, we can recover the home that the soul desires.

Source
Anthony Lawlor, A Home for the Soul: A Guide for Dwelling with Spirit and Imagination, cited in Breathnach, S.B. (2002). Romancing the Ordinary (p.211-212). London: Pocket Books.

So first things first, what am I going to make for lunch (yes, we slept in and missed breakfast – technically I was making brunch). Lynsey headed for the garden and I headed for the kitchen.

There is something comforting about the kitchen. It is a room laden with memories, endless sensual experiences and boundless creativity. Our kitchen is the centre of our home, whether it is just us or when we have friends and family around. People congregate in our kitchen (oh how I dream of having an open plan kitchen that melds into our other living spaces without the current walls that separate it off as though it needs to be hidden) – Lynsey and I cook, our guests sit, we have music going, wine and food on hand to whet the appetite – it is nurturing and loving. There is laughter, loads of talking and generally it is a place where everything is right with me and the world. Nothing else matters when I’m in the kitchen except what I’m there to do.

Today I created a tantalising mushroom soup (I know what you’re thinking, chicken soup is the soul soup – oh well, today I created a new soul soup that was equally as nourishing and nurturing), tasty baked cheese puffs with avocado, tomatoes, and some wonderful New Zealand cheese to go with them.

The smells of the cooking infused the house. As we sat down to eat I felt warm, loved and comforted. I hope my waistline wasn’t too drastically affected by the experience.

A meal shared in a welcoming environment definitely soothes a tired soul.

Now onto the cleaning …

Manifesto
08. Every day choose to bring about change.
12. Every day love yourself.
29. Every day eat, drink, rest, work, exercise, play, love, create for your own good. And the good of others.