Oryoki

Ok- so when i eat i stuff my face. STUFF MY FACE. Every time i sit to eat my intention is obliterate all semblance of my appetite. I get nervous before i eat that there will not be enough food for me. This is not rational. i was never oliver twist asking meekly for more please. I grabbed and stuffed my way though hundreds if not thousands of pizzas and breadsticks( in case the pizza alone left me wanting). I have never gone without food or been forced to make do with just enough. Which brings me to my topic today, just enough.

But first a little more about me. I have been practicing zen meditation for around 11 years. only recently have i gained the courage to attend berkeley zen center's morning sittings and service. On saturdays the schedule includes breakfast in the zendo. I was told that i would have to ask the vice abbot for instruction on the eating ritual. this made me nervous. I have to talk? Not only did i have to talk but i had to remember the name of the ritual, oryoki for a week until the following saturday. would i say origami? karaoke? i went home and googled it immediately so i wouldn't forget. Oryoki translated means just enough. a great idea.... eat just enough, but was i up to the task? I sat zazen the following week, asked the vice abbot for instruction (i remembered the name...phew) and was on my way. After the instruction i went back to the zendo found my spot with my borrowed bowls and began the process. Starting with a wrapped package of three nesting bowls, a spoon, chopsticks, a small spatula and three cloth napkins the package is unwrapped and arranged in front of me. the food comes one dish at a time and a mutual bow is exchanged between the server and the served at every delivery. We ate cornmeal grits, mango smoothy and a tofu scramble silently and delicately until we were all finished. we used to spatula to scrape the bowls clean and eat the scrapings. After the licking clean a person comes around and pours hot water in the first bowl. Using the spatula we cleaned the bowl and then poured the water into the second bowl where we washed our other utensils and scraped that bowl clean. The third bowl is much smaller than the others so only a little water is transfered, the rest we drank. after the third bowl is cleaned the water is poured into a large bowl as an offering. the bowls and utensils are now clean and stacked and the oryoki set ends just as it started.

This was the first time i ate a meal mindfully. i was satisfied, felt recharged and certainly not about to pass out from a gorging. i will not eat every meal this way but i will at least once a week.

I Love eating with you. You are amazing

things I Feed (All of The Time--ME)

Things I Feed (All of The Time--Ebenezer and Olyphant)

Things I Feed (whenever I can--Rachel)

Things I Feed (6:30AM,12:30PM,5:30PM--M)

Things I Feed (7:00 to 2:00-Customers)

Things I Feed (1:30 am-Possum(s)?)

Things I Feed (3:30 pm-Stray Cats)

This is the first post in a new bimonthly series by our illustrator, John Dezort. Tune in every other Friday for his illustrated take on his life told in recipes. Currently, he's building a series entitled "Things I Feed" and we hope you enjoy it as much as we are.

Food for Thought Thursdays: Feeling Full

Rachel here: In the days before M's arrival, John and I spent Saturdays in our kitchen together. Sometimes I'd cook, sometimes we'd both cook, but what felt important--what was important--was that we spent that time together, focused on feeding ourselves well physically in the upcoming week and in feeding our relationship through this weekly pause together. We'd talk and cook, sometimes listening to talk radio. The best, though, was when our friend Brian gave us new music of his.

John and Brian have always been friends (always). Getting to be friends with Brian (and his phenomenal wife--one of my best, best friends--and super awesome daughter) has been one of the great gifts of being with John. The music Brian makes is, in turn, one of the great gifts of knowing Brian. Brian makes music that articulates feelings I stumble to find words for, grasps moments that slip through my fingers. Ethereal and concrete, brave and intimate--the arrival in our kitchen of new music from Brian has always been cause for excitement in our house.

Today, it is my distinct pleasure to direct your attention to Brian's blog (click here). He has a new album out (called "Call")and, for the first time, he and John have teamed up with John illustrating each of the five singles Brian is releasing (a sample is our illustration for this post). The album is awesome and so are John's singles covers.

Spending the day in the kitchen with my best friend and true love, preparing food to fill our bellies while Brian's music filled our ears--this is as full as I've ever been and I feel incredibly lucky for such sustenance.

Guest Blogger: John Dezort

Rachel here: For a while now, we've been meaning to get some other people cooking on our blog. We love the guest posts we've been able to feature on Food for Thought Thursdays but we've also been wanting to do more. Today we are excited to kick off another outlet for voices and recipes other than our own by turning over the post to a guest blogger we're pretty sure you all already know and love: John Dezort. Though you've been looking at his illustrations for months now, and were recently made privy to a Food for Thought post by him, we're excited to show you what he can do when left entirely to his own devices. Without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, John Dezort.

John here: So it's spring, and even though in California it feels like spring for most of the year and locally grown produce can be bought throughout the year, spring in California brings forth an abundance of new veggies and fruits. I AM bragging, in case you weren't sure. So due to the recent availability of these vegetables, a wonderful woman I work with brought in a case of fresh asparagus she had found on the cheap and divided it among the employees. I ended up with a LOT of asparagus, which is a good problem to have. So I made soup!


Ingredients
6 to 7 cups chicken stock
1 large bunch of locally grown California spring asparagus (joking, any will do)
5 small yukon gold potatoes cut into small cubes
3 small ears of corn
1 large onion
3 stalks celery
1 large lemon--rind and juice
2 T parsley
2 tspn. thyme
2 T. dried mustard
pinch nutmeg
worcestershire sauce, just a little will do
Tapatio, Tabasco, cayenne, or anything spicy
1 pint or so of cream

Method
Dice onion, celery, and the bottom half of the asparagus spears (reserve the tops for later), season with salt and pepper and saute in butter until the onion is translucent and browned slightly. Do this in the pot you will use for the soup. Add the stock and bring to a simmer. Add minced parsley, thyme and the other spices omitting the nutmeg, but including the lemon rind. Add hot (spicy) ingredients now as well but only to taste with a splash or two of worcestershire. Let simmer for roughly twenty minutes and then add the potatoes. Cook until the potatoes are done. While the soup is simmering, cut the asparagus tops into bite size pieces and blanch in boiling water that is very salty, like ocean-salty (really, it makes a difference). Shock in an ice bath when almost tender and set aside. Add the fresh corn from the cob to the soup (the corn will cook in a matter of minutes). Add a pinch of nutmeg and the juice from the lemon and finish with cream. Do not add the cream to a boiling soup as it will curdle, and don't reheat soup to a boil or it will separate. Adjust seasoning and add asparagus tops just before serving.