Election, Afterglow, Love

I cried last night.  So many victories in U.S. politics.  Marriage equality in Maine, Michigan, Maryland, and Washington.  President Obama re-elected.  There are many things he supports that I don't, but in my mind he is mostly a good and true leader and human being, doing the best he can with our (in my mind) pretty f'd system.  Tammy Baldwin, the first openly gay senator (and a woman!) was elected.  Elizabeth Warren is still on the senate.  I know this is a good thing because my brilliant liberal friends rejoiced when it happened, but in all honesty I know little about her.  PBS and Planned Parenthood are safe from Mitt's slimy paws.  Vaginas everywhere breathe satisfied sighs of relief.

from Barak Obama's facebook page

In California, we had ballot measures I cared about (and understood!), such as repealing the death penalty (this failed, and I am the tiniest bit dumbfounded.  Maybe because I am not a fan of killing?  Maybe because many innocent people end up executed?), ramping up trafficking penalties (this passed, which I am not happy about.  Why?  Read this article.), funding for schools (prop 30, the better of two initiatives, passed!), and the labeling of GMO foods (failed).  

After the election, I was elated.  Obama in office, gay marriage accepted in several more states (this takes our count up to 11!), a gay lady in on the senate, and a surprisingly gracious concession speech from Romney.  

from HRC's facebook page

This country, the subject of so many of my rants, made some big progress last night.

It's something, but we have more to do.

Big corporations control our food (not to mention our farmers) and our tongues are too slow to ask where it's coming from, what's in it.  There are still 49 states without basic civil rights for many humans in our population.  We're still engaged in wars, using too much oil, wasting so much of our food (if we can call much of what we eat "food"), and largely ignoring climate change and global warming. 

I want to be part of the solution.  I don't want a life on the sidelines, armchair activism and apathy, charges to which I both plead guilty.  It's not as though I am living a particularly terrible life, impacting our world in a negative way, but I want to contribute lovingly and passionately, live in this community of human beings and work toward positive change.  And yet.  Sometimes I stop and wonder.  How much of the earth is in our hands, how much of this world, so weary, rests on our shoulders?

from www.lunapresenceyoga.com

29

Do you want to improve the world?
I don't think it can be done.

The world is sacred.
It can't be improved.
If you tamper with it, you'll ruin it.
If you treat it like an object, you'll lose it.

There is a time for being ahead,
a time for being behind;
a time for being in motion,
a time for being at rest;
a time for being vigorous,
a time for being exhausted;
a time for being safe,
a time for being in danger.

The Master sees things as they are,
without trying to control them.
She lets them go their own way,
and resides at the center of the circle.

-Tao Te Ching

Is this the answer, or just some kind of copout?  What is the difference between acceptance and apathy, detachment and denial?

I might not have the answers to these questions, but a similar answer keeps coming up for me, and it has to do with (surprise, surprise) the heart.

from peaceflash's facebook page

In these times of uncertainty and triumph (have there ever been any other times?), may all of our actions spring from that still-beating place.  May we all tend to our hearts and the earth—and easy on the roundup, please.  The seeds have been planted, they are our true nature, and these seeds need our careful cultivation.  May we sing to what we sow with a mind set on peace, and bloom in deep kindness.  May we be the instruments of this peace, marching ever onward and inward.  And may love, of all things, prevail.  Please.  Let us let this great love prevail.

Triple Citrus & Ginger Marmalade

Something about living in the middle of a citrus orchard inspires me to get into the kitchen more often.  The navels weigh heavy on the trees, round, scarred, and warmed from the sun.  The wind is lemon-scented, if you can catch it through the dust.  Whether I gather my fruit from the ground or the tree, it feels so good to know where my food comes from, to know that my hands were the hands that picked it.

Looking out this morning, at all those fallen lemons, at our pomelo tree weighted with round blushing fruit, I was inspired to make marmalade.

I've never made marmalade, but I grew up around my mom making jams, and we made jam this summer at the farm in Italy.

My first thought was to make a pomelo marmalade.  It's a little late for pomelo, but jam is forgiving.  I remembered that Marica from Wasabi Honey Bee posted a recipe for Grapefruit Marmalade and Pomelo is in the grapefruit family, after all.

But here's the thing.  I love to cook and bake, but I don't really follow recipes.  This is why this entry does not include a recipe.

I used Marica's recipe and photos as well as a recipe for Ginger Apple Marmalade from Sunset as my inspiration, but the rest was that magical blend of intuition and experimentation.

Gravenstein apples sat in the fruit bowl, and as far as the citrus?  Steps away in the orchards outside the house.

So out I went, searching for fallen fruit.

Using apples meant that I didn't need to include pectin, as apples contain it naturally.  I added freshly grated ginger and a couple of cloves, but mostly I let the flavors of this fresh fruit sing. 

After peeling, chopping, grating, simmering, and stirring . . .  Behold!  Marmalade!  

It set up on this cold plate with a perfect jammy consistency.

Now I've heard a few things about how you know jam is "set" -- run a spatula through it and if the line stays for a moment, it's done; if the jam is smooth on the back of the spoon, it's done; when it stops bubbling, it's done.  

I didn't try any of these things; I just knew.  Of all the ingredients in the kitchen, this one is perhaps the most important: trust.

So there you have it, or there I have it.  Triple Citrus & Ginger Marmalade.  Tart, sweet, slightly bitter and with the spicy warmth of ginger.  I will be making marmalade again soon.