In celebration ...

"Her mother had never wanted a girl.

She had told her daughter that often when she was too young to understand why. Later, her mother told her she didn't want to bring a girl into the world because girls suffer greatly, carry all the burdens and were vulnerable in the world. She had also treated her daughter as if she never wanted a girl and her daughter had internalized that. The feeling of being unwanted by her mother for being a girl was one that had never left her. She spent her whole life somehow making up for that by being in charge, being powerful, overly capable, hard... She also spent her whole life looking for substitute mothers. One's who made her feel cared for... valued... wanted... Women with which she could soften ... 

She found a version in her grade school English teacher, a version in her high school sweetheart's mother, a version in her therapist, a version in some friendships throughout her life, a version in her mother in law, a version in many books ... 

She found versions within herself through a decade long process of learning to re-parent the little girl full of trauma that needed a loving mother who cherished and valued her, one who would show her how to be a loving woman... a loving mother ... versions within herself when doing the work to heal others and showing up in roles of mother and guide... 

And finally, most profoundly, she found the courage to find herself as mother, to a precious girl, being transformed every moment by the pure miracle that is the pregnant body, the life that comes forth and the little girl that came to bless her life with more joy, wonder and respect than she had words for, every moment of her life."

All of human life is made in the bodies of women, brought into the physical world through the bodies of women, nurtured by the bodies and souls of women, guided by the souls and hearts of women. 

Let us respect, love and govern ourselves as women as the miracles that we are. That is our birthright. Let us also treat one another as such. As friends and equals, as helpers, guides, leaders, teammates ... the holders of the world ... For the world needs us now, more than ever. 

Let us want and care for and nurture the girls within us, the girls in our lives so that we and they can reflect that and be the women that make the world. 

In celebration of International Women's Day. 

Walking all the work ...

Hi my dears.

Story:

Seven years ago in October, I started writing in public. It was a difficult thing for me to (force myself) to do because my life thus far had taught me to be private and closed for various reasons, but I knew I needed to do it. And so I did and dishchronicles.com was born. Now, here we are seven years later, almost to the day (in 2010 it was the 27th of October) I am here with a new name.

Techy things:

I am not the most tech savvy person, to say the least. It is just not something that I choose to devote time to given that we have only so much of it in a day and one must choose so, this means that I totally ignored ( la la la la la ...) some serious emails and techy things and now no longer have my original blog dishchonicles.com. It was sold out to someone else (I could not believe it ....  la la la la la ...) and after hours of phone calls I found out and decided that it is too expensive for me to buy the domain name back and therefore, here we are.

Starlight Moondance, my dears.

Here and now:

So, I have spent part of the afternoon starting to copy and paste the content of my blog here. I was so afraid that it was all gone but it's not (thank sweet goodness, says person who has no clue about these things and was afraid seven years of writing went poof) and so, I will spend the next few weeks diligently going through and walking all the work to this path here.

Thank you.

In gratitude.

In openess.

In growth for my greater good and a sacred path.

Thank you for being here and reading my words darlings. Take care of each other.

Me and the Baobab ...

Do you remember Bugs Bunny, or Tom and Jerry or the Pink Panther or Snoopy? You do right?!! Okay, so remember when Bugs or Tom or Jerry or Pink or Snoopy used to smell the baking bread and would be roused from sleep and proceed to float, snaking along the cartoon wafty smelly thingie? Well, that is me right now. I am now, presently, right this very moment, starting to levitate - my body snaking  and coiling along the scent of freshly baking bread that is wafting, ever so tantalizingly, in here from the kitchen. Yes. I am baking bread. Heaven is in this moment.

 

Aaaanyhooo, do you remember in the previous post (this one) where I said I was going to be back with the during being away photos? From the being away? Well, um, I think ... I went ... may have gone, in fact ... a touch... flower crazy. Because, well ... almost all the photos seem to be of flowers.

 

With perhaps a tree or two. One cloud formation. A wave. An Axel. And a mangosteen! 



This is the sunset on the canal behind the condo, it was such a cool place to do yoga during my #365daysofyogaadventure. More on that adventure here for those of you who are interested...



Who can resist sunlight through trees  ...



Just look at this will you?!



Here we go with the flowers ...



These darlings are passion flowers. There is this really incredible tea that is made from this beautiful flower that is good for so many things.



Just hanging there ...just like that ...



Del Ray palms at the end of a lovely day ...



Me and the Baobab ...



There was so much energy and wisdom in this beautiful tree ...



Orchids growing on trees ... it was incredible ...



The intoxicating scent of these beautiful orchids was something to remember ...



More orchids ...



More!



I just couldn't help myself ...

 

Mid afternoon nap, breeze flowing through the open window, sun blazing in, golf magazine not far away ....



Clouds and a day moon ...



The ocean showing Axel love ...



One more cloud shot ...





And the mangosteen!




I am now going to try to find some other than flower photos ... And the bread recipe.

I'll be back ...



Away ...

I have been away for the last few weeks, dear readers. Really away. Away from home, from Napa, from family and friends, from you (thank you for all the love), from telephones, Internet, facebook, instagram, pinterest ... you name it, I have been away from it. It felt so good. I read three huge books, drank too much wine and got fat. Now I am home and my tan is fading away faster than ... well ... something that fades away super fast. But let us not think about that, yes? Right, so, I have some photos to share. Photos! Of pre-being away and during being away. Here are the first sets and I will be back this week with the rest. And a limoncello recipe with giant lemons. Happy Spring dear readers!

Pre-being away:

Yes, it was, and STILL IS, like this, here, in Montreal. Pretty, yes, but dear readers, let me tell you how you do not want this kind of beauty after 6 months!

More "beautiful" snow. Yes yes I know you find it stunning from your ocean view villa where you can feel the breeze on your skin and smell the ocean air while sipping Sancerre. I can see how you would.

 

I was busy with my beloved Chakra work.

 

My beautiful lovely and super talented friend made this. Like totally made it. By hand. With wax & moulds and stuff. The kick ass silver skull pendant...not the shirt. Here's where to find her ... and the skull pendant of all skull pendants.

 

I got funky with a giant bindi at my beautiful niece's birthday party.

 

There were Irises and Mimosas, because after all, one needs a bit of hope when one is buried under snow for 6 months.

 

There was some wine...

 

And figs, grapes and blue cheese ...

 

And goat's cheese and sage ...

 


And these completely massive lemons the size of my head to make limoncello with. Not that I made limoncello with them mind you. I just loved them so much I bought them just so I could look at them. Then I made lemonade.

 


There were also "regular" sized lemons and black grapes...with a fig or two in between ...

 

More flowers ... because ...well ... you saw the snow right?

 

The flowers and lemons together because ... well ... they are so matchie matchie! Can you see the size of those lemons dear readers?!

 

I woke up to some tulips ... March is flower month in our household...

 

This was "Today's view from the mat. #365daysofyogaadventure"

And then, one night...a few days before we were to leave, I became obsessed with the freesias on our table. This, was the result. Warning: you are about to see many freesia photos, from an obsessive insomniac. Continue at your own risk. Right ...well then:

     

 

 

Over and out.

 





In the land of bones, butter & pig fat...

 Alright. I have a confession to make.

I was not sure if I wanted to talk about this here but I suppose it must come out because I am going to alter the way I eat for a while and therefore my recipes and slightly therefore, what I write about. Ish. For a bit.  For a bit!

People, my dear, sweet readers, my dosha is out of balance. That's right. I said dosha and out of balance. You have read it here first. My name is Oana, and I, am an out of balance Pitta.

You still with me? Hang in there... don't freak out.

For those of you who may not know (and most of you wouldn't, it is not something I normally talk about here) Ayurveda and the Healing Arts are a sizable part of my life. Like super big :). So since I'll be adopting a bit of a balancing style for a while, I'll be talking about it here, from time to time. Right here in the land of bones, butter and pig fat. 

I'll be saying things like bone water  (I've posted a great recipe here) and guna and lassi  (remember the don't freak out part) and, well, balancing and chakra and other such things. I hope you will still love me.

Oanapittabonewater

Time to dish.

Really awesome Soy Chai to soothe Vata

 

 

 

Here is what you need:

 

• Small handfuls each, of cloves, Asian dates & star anise
• A cinnamon stick
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground cardamon seeds, use a small handful of whole cardamom pods if you don't have ground
• 1 liter of soy milk, without carageenan if you can find it 
• Maple syrup to taste

 

Here is what to do:

 

1. You remember these extremely difficult instructions ... well, same thing here. I swear.

 

Once done, put on a big woolly sweater and socks, curl up with a good book or whatever you love to watch or whomever you love or whatever, and enjoy. It's awesome.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



This breath of deserts ...

 

It was cold that day in the desert. A teeth chattering kind of cold, and mine were. I was shivering as I stood to watch. Everyone had gone. The wind was blowing heavily across the landscape and the droplets had reached my face. All the way from the mountains, they were carried on the One breath. It was my first time in this place and it was not what I was expecting. I was not expecting to find myself alone and shivering, battered by wind and droplets, pulling my humble sweater around me for a semblance of warmth as I watched a rainstorm come in over desert mountains. I was not expecting to be unable to move, astonished and breathless at the exquisite beauty before me. Nor for the love that would ensue.

 

Yet, there it was.

 

There I was.

 

The clouds were heavy with rain and each moment they seemed to come closer, but never did. Everything came to life. The ground seemed to vibrate with energy, the plants reaching to catch droplets whirled by on the wind above them. Reaching to drink in this life that visits them once every ten years. The air smelled of wet stone and earth. Every inhale was filled with mist and lessons.

 

 

 

And then, as quickly as they rolled in...

 

 

 

 The clouds were gone. The rain, with them. And out came a brilliant, scorching sun. People with it.

 

 

 

 

Warming up stones for my grateful feet.

 



 

 

Breath of deserts

 

What finds you is freedom and oneness.

Newness where old eyes feared there would be none again.

Things you do not know

Cannot know here.

An alien on your own planet.

Beyond you.

Liberation from mind.

The beauty and burden of life, shared.

The certainty of hope.

The certainty of change.

Of transformation.

Breathe in deeply.

The moment is fleeting.

 

This breath of deserts.

 

- Oana Silaghi Bedikyan

 

 

 

Time to dish.

 

What. You thought you weren't getting a recipe?

 

So you know how I have been making tons of this bone broth? Well, we have to do something with all that meat yes?

 

Do this:

 

Pulled Turkey (or Chicken) Sandwich

 

 

 

Here is what you need:

 

• Lovely meat from your bone broth
• Cornichons
• Green Olives
• Mayo
• Lemon juice
• Matouk - hot sauce- the bomb
• Crusty Bread
 

Here is what to do:

 

1. Shred your chicken or turkey meat with a fork and mix with a generous amount of mayonnaise and the juice of half a lemon.
2. Dice the cornichons & olives finely and add to the mixture. Lightly toast your favorite bread, mine was a baguette, slather a tiny amount of matouk on the bread (any more and you are on your own, you've been warned) and dig in dear readers.