It is spring in Nepal – sparkling explosion of blossoms, butterflies, bird song and fresh breezes.

This year I am here to visit with my daughter Emilia and see the work that she is doing here. Emilia, an international development student, came to Nepal to volunteer with a clinic and several orphanages. She lost her heart to a group of tiny girls who recently arrived from western Nepal, a desperately poor region. Their parents are either deceased or unable to take care of them and the 21 girls are in the care of a small orphanage where primarily one woman, the house mother, takes care of their needs. Emilia goes daily to teach  English, play games, sing songs and dispense hugs and kisses. She is working tirelessly on getting the girls into a good school and securing funding for tuition, uniforms, books and a decent place to live. She has created a website for the Mandala Girls Home where you can read more about them. in the last week I tagged along and helped take the girls to the dentist and a picnic (two activities on extreme ends of the joy scale). It was both heartening and heartbreaking to see the girls, for brief moments, emerging from their held back state. As always, Nepal provides a wealth of contrasts, one’s heart continuously pulled from beauty to despair, from inspiration to hopelessness, awe to repulsion – ultimately leaving no choice but to stay open and present, accepting life in its fullness.

Of all things living
I’d be a sweet potato,
fresh dug up.

—Shinkichi Takahashi

Sweet potato is an almost perfect food, a nutritional powerhouse replete with vitamins, minerals and proteins with significant anti-oxidant capacities – all in an unassuming package that often surprises with its rich yellow colour upon opening. Recently I noticed that living in Crestone, a small mountain community in Southern Colorado, produces an appreciation for the everyday – from misty mornings swirling on the valley floor to old European forks slumbering in the second drawer down from the stove – to yes, the sweet potato. We eat it almost daily in a myriad recipes. Here is my favourite, albeit unusual one:

Sweet Potatoes with Squid Teriyaki

Do not peel the sweet potatoes; the skin adds colour and texture to the dish. The sweetness of the potatoes gives rich flavour to the squid, which is cooked until very tender. Japanese satsuma-imo potatoes are also recommended for this dish and are available in Japanese markets year round.

1 pound sweet potatoes

8-10 small squid

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 1/4 cup dashi

3 tablespoons sake

1 to 2 tablespoons mirin

2 tablespoons soy sauce

Wash potatoes well and halve lengthwise. Then cut each half into four pieces. Pull legs off the squid with our fingers, then wash out the innards and pull out the spine under running cold water, then peel off the surface of the squid (in United States you will most certainly be spared this gruesome ritual as most squid comes pre-washed and cleaned out). Cut the tops off the legs. Cut the body of each squid into 1/2 inch rings.

In a medium saucepan, heat oil and sauté sliced sweet potatoes over medium heat for 3 minutes. Add dashi broth and sake and bring to a boil. Combine mirin and soy sauce. Add squid and let boil again. remove foam from the surface of the liquid and reduce heat. Let simmer for another 15 minutes, covered.

Serve at room temperature or warm.

Recently a client asked me to create a large, cheerful painting for a dental office in Boulder www.boulderdental.com – a bit of art to take their patients’ attention from their apprehension about the upcoming treatment. Easy enough. Little did I know that it was going to be just about the largest piece of art I had ever produced in pastel and one of the most fun studio experiences!

People often ask me to share the artistic process – this of course can only be done successfully in person. In the absence of an opportunity to do that – here is the progression of Four Seasons of Boulder diptich and I can’t think of a more appropriate piece to show the full process.

Il faut être toujours ivre. Tout est là: c’est l’unique question. Pour ne pas sentir l’horrible fardeau du Temps qui brise vos épaules et vous penche vers la terre, il faut vous enivrer sans trêve.
Mais de quoi? De vin, de poésie ou de vertu, à votre guise. Mais enivrez-vous.
Et si quelquefois, sur les marches d’un palais, sur l’herbe verte d’un fossé, dans la solitude morne de votre chambre, vous vous réveillez, l’ivresse déjà diminuée ou disparue, demandez au vent, à la vague, à l’étoile, à l’oiseau, à l’horloge, à tout ce qui fuit, à tout ce qui gémit, à tout ce qui roule, à tout ce qui chante, à tout ce qui parle, demandez quelle heure il est et le vent, la vague, l’étoile, l’oiseau, l’horloge, vous répondront: “Il est l’heure de s’enivrer! Pour n’être pas les esclaves martyrisés du Temps, enivrez-vous; enivrez-vous sans cesse! De vin, de poésie ou de vertu, à votre guise.” – Charles Baudelaire from Le Spleen de Paris La Tour Eiffel

Winter Evening on the Quais

Hot Chestnuts

Si no fuera porue tus ojos tienen color de luna,

de día con su arcilla, con trabajo, con fuego,

y aprisionada tienes la agilidad del aire,

si no fuera porque eres una semana de ámbar,

si no fuera porque eres el momento amarillo

en que el otoño sube por las enredaderas

y eres aún el pan que la luna fragante

elabora paseando su harina por el cielo,

oh bineamada, ¡yo no te amaria!

En tu abrazo yo abrazo lo que existe,

la arena, el tiempo, el árbol de la lluvia,

y todo vive para que yo viva;

sin ir más lejos puedo verlo todo:

veo en tu vida todo lo viviente.

Pablo Neruda, Cien Sonetos de Amor

My husband Sasha’s (whose tender, sensitive photographs you can enjoy at www.sashameyerowitz.com) slightly broken up message as he made his way toward Kathmandu yesterday: “….here in the Delhi airport transit lounge……….an amazing parade of all kinds of people of all types of nationalities…….afghans with their women in black, luggage and children covering the floor…….nice meeting people and chatting with people…..” Hope he’s taking pictures of all this – in the meantime here is what we imagined on this side of the great water

DENVER — After visiting with HH the Dalai Lama President Barack Obama blew through Denver during a snowstorm Thursday afternoon to boost U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet’s re-election campaign.

The president stumped for the Democratic senator in front of about 2,700 people packed into Fillmore Auditorium. My friend Spencer and his grandson were there: “The meeting with HH also generated a storm of protest from China. And my grandson and I saw Obama a few hours later in the day in Denver speaking at a fundraiser for Sen. Bennett. An exciting, wonderful experience for both of us, seeing a man we both admire, so close up…calm in the center of the storm.“

Celebrating Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel’s book

(“Power of an Open Question”, Shambhala)

at the Med with sparkling wine and tapas! 

Salt Cod Fritters with Allioli

Bacalao – salt cod – is one of the great Spanish delights, adding flavor to bland ingredients such as potatoes. If you are unfamiliar with it, then this is a delightful way to try it out. Bite size fish cakes, dipped into rich, creamy, garlicky allioli, are irresistible!

• Serves 6
• 1 lb salt cod
• 1 1/4 lb floury potatoes
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 6 spring onions finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2 eggs, beaten
• Plain (all-purpose) flour, for dusting
• 3 1/2 oz dried white breadcrumbs
• Olive oil for shallow frying
• Lemon wedges and salad leaves, to serve

For the allioli:

• 2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 1/4 cup olive oil 
• Juice of 1/2 lemon, to taste

Soak the salt cod in cold water for at least 24 hours, changing the water two or three times. The cod should swell as it rehydrates. Sample a tiny piece. It should not taste unpleasantly salty when fully rehydrated. Drain well and pat dry with kitchen paper.

Cook the potatoes, unpeeled, in a pan of lightly salted boiling water for about 20 minutes, until tender. Drain. As soon as they are cool enough to handle, peel the potatoes, then mash with a fork or use a potato masher.

Pour the milk into a pan, add half the spring onions and bring to a simmer. Add the soaked cod and poach very gently for 10-15 minutes, or until it flakes easily. Remove the cod and flake it with a fork into a bowl, discarding bones and skin.

Add 4 tablespoons of mashed potato to the cod and beat them together with a wooden spoon. Work in the olive oil, then gradually add the remaining mashed potato. Beat in the remaining spring onions and the parsley.

Season with lemon juice to taste – the mixture may also need a little salt but taste it before adding any. Add one egg to the mixture and beat it until thoroughly combined, then chill until firm.

Shape the chilled fish mixture into 12-18 balls, then gently flatten into small round cakes. Coat each one in flour, then dip in the remaining beaten egg and coat with dried breadcrumbs. Chill until ready to fry.

Meanwhile, make the allioli. Place the garlic and a good pinch of salt in a mortar and pound to a paste with a pestle. Using a small whisk or a wooden spoon, gradually work in the egg yolks.

Beat in about half the olive oil, a drop at a time. When the sauce is as thick as soft butter, beat in 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice. Continue adding oil until the allioli is very thick. Season to taste, adding more lemon juice if you wish.

Heat about 3/4 inch oil in a large, heavy frying pan. Add the fritters and cook over a medium-high heat for about 4 minutes. Turn them over and cook for a further 4 minutes on the other side, until crisp and golden. Drain on kitchen paper, then serve with the allioli, lemon wedges and salad leaves.

• A few years ago I had an idea to publish a series of small, unusual travel books with a common title “Sunday in the City”.  The books were to contain information about what the locals do on Sundays in cities around the world when most stores and offices are closed and there is an uncommon quiet to the streets. One of the major components of these books were to be the recipes – special meals that citizens of various countries prepare for their families and friends on Sundays.
• First one that came out of the memory coffers was one of my Mother’s favourite cookie recipes – the Sunday Cookie. My Mother was a busy corporate lawyer who hated cooking but LOVED baking. Her best friend, Aunt Cherry, supplied her this recipe from her native village with an apropos name – Upper Sunday.
• It is the easiest, most satisfying cookie recipe with which you can wow your friends in less than an hour! These cookies are also perfect for holidays as they retain the contrasting textures of the shortbread and the meringue for up to several weeks. Just keep covered and store in a cool, dark place. Cut into bars just before serving.
•