Meaningful Mondays #4

“Each of you, make yourself an island, make yourself your refuge; there is no other refuge. Make truth your island, make truth your refuge; there is no other refuge.”

— Buddha

I came across this quote a few days ago when I was searching an old document on my computer. Along with it, I wrote at the time - which was around the end of 2014 - a few more words on the theme which I'd like to share with you. It made sense back then and it still does. 

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To me there's nothing in this world that compares to peace of mind and spirit, and nothing that can give us more courage, calmness and hope than being truthful with ourselves. This is not an arrogant and egocentric exercise, but one of humbleness and detachment. 

All of us have opinionated people around us, people that express strong beliefs about how life should be lived, including our own. Even if we hold some of them in high esteem they will not live our lives for us. More so, most of us live in society, which being obviously great it could also be that whatever is happening around us might be blurring the vision we have for our life, and these two things together leave us without truly knowing if what we want is coming from within ourselves or from others.

Making the most of wild blackberries

It was late September and all the wild blackberries had already dried out on their bushes. "Next year", I said to myself, "I need to pick them earlier".

So this year, on a cloudy August afternoon, I decided to go and check on the wild blackberry bushes that are abundant near Serra da Arrábida. It was just at the right moment. Some of them were already dried but my mother and me still managed to pick a lot of plump, shiny and sweet wild blackberries.

As I drove back home I couldn't stop thinking about a berry pound cake recipe I had tried from the wonderful book A Homemade Life - one of my favourite cookbooks ever - by Molly Wizenberg, the creator of one of my longtime favourite blogs, Orangette.

For this recipe I've followed her advice on using blackberries instead of blueberries and raspberries, and did the suggested correction of flavourings, adding lemon and orange zest to the recipe. I've also opted for coconut sugar, with the correspondent adjustment of quantity, since coconut sugar is much sweeter than the regular one.

Wild Blackberry Pound Cake

2 cups + 2 tbsp flour, preferably spelt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/3 cups coconut sugar
5 eggs
250g unsalted butter, diced and at room temperature
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp orange zest
2 cups blackberries

Start by pre-heating the oven to 180ºC and placing your oven rack in the middle position. Grease and flour a bundt pan (I used a silicone one). In a bowl whisk 2 cups of flour, baking powder and salt. In a food processor blend sugar with eggs for about 1 minute. Then add the the diced butter,lemon and orange zest and blend again, not forgetting to scrape the sides of the bowl. Add the dry ingredients and process until just combined. In a large bowl toss the blackberries with the 2 tbsp of flour. Pour the batter over the berries and gently fold to combine. Pour the batter into the pan and spread it evenly on the top. Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let it cool at least 20 minutes before serving.

The power of presence

As you've might already noticed, this is not just a place about food. Well, at least not food as we commonly know it. Just as I believe that food isn't only a means to get energy for our body, I also believe that life is more than getting things done. I won't deny that there's a kind of sense of accomplishment when you tick that certain item off your bucket list. But I wonder, without meaning how long does that sense of accomplishment lasts? Maybe just one moment, as you will surely look for the next item to focus on. I'm completely guilty of doing this. When I'm not doing something I feel like I'm just waisting my time. Except I'm not. 

I have my dear friend Maria João to thank for an incredible exercise that she suggested me to do some months ago:

MJ: "Just go outside, sit in your garden and do nothing for half an hour."
Me: "But that's what I do everyday when I meditate!"
MJ: "No, it's not the same thing. Just sit and do nothing."

And what an incredible experience it was. Weird at first for sure, but I felt like I gained something else. I believe it was presence. An overwhelming presence. I've felt this before. I feel this every time I'm deeply connected with nature or engaged in a deep conversation with someone. Or even when I'm meditating. So what is the difference between all these examples and the exercise your friend suggested, you might ask. Well, I guess is the courage to assume that you're about to do nothing in a time where productivity rules, where you are what you do or accomplish. And having the courage to do that empowers you. 

If you'd like some extra reading on this, check this article and this. For Portuguese readers, have a look at this one as well. 

A recipe for the weekend

It may not be the most good looking and certainly not the healthiest, but this coconut and vanilla cake is one of my old time favourites. The recipe comes from my dear friend Carolina and I find it a perfect tea time cake. Prepare to have your whole house filled with the most delicious coconut and vanilla aroma!

Coconut and Vanilla cake

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
150g butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs at room temperature
1 cup milk at room temperature
1 1/2 cups unsweetened desiccated coconut

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a springform round cake pan and line bottom with baking paper. Grease paper. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until creamy. Add vanilla, then beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Alternately beat in flour mixture and milk in 3 batches on low speed. Increase speed to medium and beat batter 1 1/2 minutes, or until smooth. Fold in coconut. Spoon batter into cake pan and spread evenly. Bake cake in middle of oven until golden brown and a tester comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack 1 hour, remove from tine and let it cool completely. Dust with icing sugar before serving.

Serves 8.