I'm getting quite good at thinking about nothing :) I've talked about meditation in a few posts before. (Just type in 'meditation' in the Search box at the top on the main page and scroll down. Relevant posts will be highlighted.) I haven't done any meditation for a few weeks, but I sort of got the gist of it now and I generally feel that I'm in control (not all the time, though...), which is a good thing. In control of what? Well...myself and everyday situations, really.
It might have to do with my mellowing age and nothing to do with meditation, but meditation certainly helps. I don't know why or can't explain how, but it just helps for things to happen for me. What I mean 'things' here isn't material stuff. It's a sort of smooth and calm situation that unfolds at a time when it could have been a worrying, upsetting, or annoying situation for me before.
You can find out how to meditate in your own way, but this is how I do it - set an alarm clock for 15 minutes, try and sit, cross-legged on the floor or on the edge of a chair, with my back upright and my chin comfortably pulled towards my chest, and vaguely gaze at a point 1 metre away from me. Then I try and have my head blank inside. When thoughts start popping up in my head, I try and blow them away like a candle light. Or I might try and think that I am a car with its engine turned off. It's an interesting training.
Try and do this once a day, and see what happens. Your normal automatic reaction to everyday situations somehow becomes a chosen action. About 90% of your reaction is a habit. You've got nothing to lose, bar 15 minutes a day. I used to do it everyday, but I'm lazy so it's now down to once a week or less. It still works, although I'm not a saint just yet...
Now this is an Italian temple food, as it were - risotto. I used a mixture of Shimeji (picture below), oyster mushrooms, ordinary brown mushrooms, and a handful of dried Porcini mushrooms. My method of risotto is a sort of bastardized one ;) What I have next to my risotto in the picture above is just a salad of rocket leaves, baby plum tomatoes, Prosciutto ham, and some Parmesan cheese shavings (not so temple, this one...)
Ingredients (for 1 person):
1 cupped handful of risotto rice
half an onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
half a stick of celery (option), chopped very small
a pinch of chilli flakes
200g mixed mushrooms (as above), sliced
20g dried porcini
half a cube of vegetable (or chicken) stock
a glass of dry vermouth such as Noilly Prat (or white wine)
a handful of parsley, chopped fine
50g Parmesan cheese, grated
Soak the porcini mushrooms in a bowl of hot water and leave it while you get on with the risotto.
Fry half of the garlic and chillies in some olive oil and add the mushrooms (not the porcini). Keep frying until all the liquid evaporates from mushrooms.
Have a kettleful of water boiling and ready. If you are using an electric kettle, turn on the switch every now and then while cooking so that you always have some boiling water to hand.
Fry the onion, the rest of the garlic, and celery (if you are using) in a medium sized pan with a knob of butter and a tablespoon of olive oil until soft and translucent. Add the rice and stir around for about 3 minutes.
Crumble the stock cube into the rice and add the vermouth. When the liquid is absorbed add some hot water from the kettle to cover the rice. Strain the porcini and add them to the rice together with fried mushrooms. Keep stirring until the liquid is reduced and add some more water to cover. Repeat this process for about 10 minutes. Taste a few grains of rice and see if it's cooked through - al dente rather than mushy. Turn off the heat, add the parmesan and parsley, stir gently, and adjust the taste with salt and pepper.
