worldly food for body and soul

i am feeling SO spoiled. dear Krista gave me a gift of a CD that is just the type of CD that nourishes and soothes me. i am engaging in my usual habit of listening over and over again to the same cd which i always do with a new cd that i cannot get enough of. this has the unfortunate result of making me tire of beloved cds earlier than i would like. the cd features smooth songstresses from france, czech republic, iceland, brazil, cape verde, algeria, croatia and MORE. intriguingly the voices follow one another seamlessly. yay for the wonderful people at putumayo who are certainly my favorite record label. they always know just exactly what i am going to like.


then i have also been nourishing my body so delightfully with the guidance of Mollie Katzen's group at the Moosewood restaurant. I got this book from dear Celeste (how lucky I am to have all these spectcular friends!) This is also JUST my kind of a cookbook. simple, startling delicious recipes from all across the globe. and so so nourishing and healthful. So far i have made the West African Peanut soup, the Middle Eastern cucumber and yogurt salad and the Egyptian Ful Nabed --Bean and vegetable soup. The last two turned out VERY well and are highly recommended.

Here is the recipe for the cucumber and yogurt salad--

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Jajoukh

2 cucumbers thinly sliced
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon dried dill (3 tblsp fresh)
1 1/2 cups plain yogurt
2-3 tbsps fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil
3 large garlic clove minced
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
3/4 tsp salt

Toss all ingredients and chill.

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there are so many recipes still to explore. All the important geographical locations of my life are covered. There is an entire section on Finnish cuisine which seems random enough to make me feel the book was just MEANT for me. I have been wanting a Finnish cookbook to see if I could find some things that seem to resemble my mother's cooking. none of them seem to ring a bell except for my mother's love of open faced sandwiches and beetroot but I will be delighted all the same to try some of them out one of these (not so) wintry days.