Instagram Message: This guy was stockpiling fish yesterday. What are you doing to get ready for Fall Equinox?
Facebook post: This guy was stockpiling fish yesterday. Fall Equinox is on Thursday - do you stockpile anything during the Fall season?
I always think I’m going to be ahead of the game when we transition from one season to the next. Surprise..I haven’t prepared for Fall even though Labor Day was a couple of weeks ago. However, even though I’m not physically ready, my mind set has been switched out of summer-mode and I’m ready to welcome the Fall Equinox which is on Thursday, September 22nd. I L-O-V-E the Fall - it’s the perfect chilly-enough-to-wear-jeans-and-a-sweater-but-not-time-to-bust-out-the-Canada-Goose-jacket season. Plus, everything that has a flavor turns into a pumpkin. Meaning, chances are if you want to eat or drink anything, it will be offered in a pumpkin version. So as we all scurry around with our PSLs (pumpkin-spiced lattes), ending one season and beginning the next, I can’t help but relate to the squirrels that dart around my neighborhood, collecting nuts and stockpiling in the trees. I think Fall is the perfect time to stockpile recipes because soon the grocery stores will be limited in what produce varieties they will have to offer and so the more recipes you can rely on as your “go-to” meals, the better. If you are looking for a Fall thoughtful pinch you can send your favorite Fall/Winter recipes to your family and friends. It’s going to take a village to get thru Fall and Winter so recipes can help.
The Way of the Happy Woman is a book that I treasure and read over and over again. What keeps me coming back for more is how the author, Sara Avant Stover, breaks the book up into four parts dedicating each part to a season. She has helpful tips on how to adjust yoga practices, eating and sleeping habits in order to change your rhythms to match the season. According to the book, “The Fall Equinox is when the dark and the light live in equal measure, the days grow shorter and shorter until the longest night of the year arrives with Winter Solstice.” Stover points out that Rosh Hashanah, which is on October 2nd this year, is the Jewish traditional new year and Navatri, otherwise known as “nine nights of the goddess” celebrated by the Hindus, starts on October 1st this year and welcomes the beginning of winter. Notice how both of these traditions are in the Fall. Stover writes about how we will gather, store, organize, spend more time at home with our families, start projects, study and reflect on how much we’ve grown over the last 6 months. This is our way of letting go of summer and using Fall as our "prep time" before winter arrives. So I'm not behind at all, I've got this. I'll be ready for winter for sure. {cough, yea right, cough, cough}
Stover’s Fall recipes are basic but staples including: Green Goddess Smoothies, Apple Walnut Quinoa Porridge, Butternut Squash Curry with Collards and Brown Rice, Halloween Snack Mix, Mulled Wine, Mung Bean Kitchari, Roasted Brussels Sprouts, and Maple Pumpkin Pie.
Here is one pinch I will share with you:
The Way of the Happy Woman’s Spiced Apple Cider
1/2 teaspoon whole allspice
1 teaspoon whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
2 quarts apple cider
1 large orange cit into thin slices
Place spices and cider in a large pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 to 30 minutes. Serve in a mug with an orange slice.
My Ayurveda BFF shares her wisdom on how Fall can effect our minds and bodies by offering Ayurveda 101 lessons at local yoga joints. One of the images she shared with us was to think of all the leaves that fall off the trees. We witness that the wind has a big role in the process of nature - knocking off the leaves so that they fall to the earth where they will stay and decay and become part of the spring and summer all over again. The wind can be powerful in our lives literally and metaphorically so Anne advises us to just be aware: you may become forgetful or feel extremely rushed. Sometimes you’re double-booked because you forgot that you scheduled something already. Our minds tend to get “windy” - breezy and airy. Therefore, we become airheads, so to speak. We also become very dry, meaning our skin, joints, hair etc. So stay hydrated and lubed up. BTW, you can thank the wind if you notice you are farting more these days LOL. Start GROUNDING yourself with what you eat and drink. I’m sharing a thoughtful pinch with you, Anne’s tea recipe, to help calm the mind and the wind within us.
Anne’s Morning Tea
1 cup of hot water
1/2 lemon - squeeze into the hot water
1/2 inch piece of raw ginger - cut into pieces and slip into hot lemon water
dash of turmeric spice or raw
raw honey to taste
One more recipe that I wanted to share with you comes from Family Fun magazine (September 2015). I'm sharing this thoughtful pinch because it’s easy comfort food and it belongs in your stockpile.
I used GF bread crumbs so all can eat. The kids actually liked this!
I know what you are thinking but these are NOT oversized joints. The one bundle on the left is just sacred white sage and the one on the right is a mix of sacred white sage, copal, sweetgrass, lavender flower.
While I’m on the hunt for perfect Halloween thoughtful pinches I have been observing the new Fall fashion colors (all I see is black, gray and white) and changes for the seasonal menu items (really pumpkin nachos?). I also picked up some sage from The Foundry last week. As I type this post, I am burning some sage in hopes of clearing out the gunk (bad air, impurities, negative juju whatever you want to call it) that may be contributing to the cough and colds that have already started to circulate in my house. Some may be skeptical, but I think it definitely cannot hurt! Sage makes a great thoughtful pinch to anyone who believes in smudging. Hmmm, I wonder if, one of these days, they will start offering pumpkin-scented sage for smudging?
Pinches,
Barb