sporlight

February 11, 2022 Sharon Jacobson

Spotlight

My dearest friends know I love watching cooking shows. I love them for a number of reasons but one is because for me cooking is deeply spiritual. I often find parallels between the spiritual lessons I have learned on my journey and cooking. For example, in some of the cooking competitions I can generally tell who is going to win by how humble they are in their relationship with the ingredients, the other cheftestants and the judges. Those who are egotistical rarely win and those who are humble usually do.

What I have come to realize this week is that there are times we need to let others be in the spotlight and shine. In all my years of teaching, I have always tried to help my students present and show off their talents. I have always preferred to be there to support them and gain their confidence. It is one of the reasons that I would have been horrible as a department chair, I just do not like being front and center. I prefer to help others shine and be in the spotlight.

The same is true for cooking. I have developed this pension for Pan-Asian noodle dishes. It is my new comfort food. Udon or Soba noodles with a simple sauce and a variety of stir-fried vegetables. This week I have been on a mushroom kick and stir frying a wide diversity of mushroom and some green onions and a sprinkling of sesame seeds. On the one hand this is a noodle dish, but the noodles are like me hiding in the background and letting the vegetables shine through

I am the same way with my Pampered Chef business. I want my team and my hosts to shine. I see myself more as a conductor helping others have these amazing performances. I prefer to do what I do best but let the light shine on those I love and want to encourage. At the same time, I am ever mindful that I am in the spotlight in the orchestra for which I am a performing member. I am grateful for those who help me shine, but I am most comfortable in helping others shine.

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Food as Spiritual

May 26, 2019 Sharon Jacobson

I seem to have stumped quite a few of my friends with a simple, or what I thought was a simple question. What food do you consider spiritual? I asked my wife and she looked at me like I had three heads. It wasn’t anything she had every thought of before. Made me wonder how many of us think about our food as spiritual. Are there foods we think of as more spiritual than others?

If we thought about our food as spiritual, would we select it differently? Would we prepare it differently? Would we ingest it differently? If we thought about the sacrifices made by that which we eat, would we think about it differently? Would we make different choices in what we eat or where our food came from?

As I thought about these questions today, I found myself thinking about some of the changes I have made in my life recently. They may have been for health reasons, but they were also spiritual. So my reflection today, is not long, but here to challenge you to think about what you eat, how you eat it, where it comes from, how you prepare it and to recognize that everything we eat or drink is a gift that others have given so we may eat and drink what is before us. How does that change the way you think for yourself?

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Self Care Time

May 16, 2019 Sharon Jacobson

The next ten days are grading frenzy for me. This is the time when I have more on my plate then I feel as if I can handle. In the past, I have burnt the candles at both ends and did not take the time I needed to sleep, eat properly, do my physical therapy or take care of myself as I should have. This semester, I have decided to do all these things out of an expression of self-respect for myself and for my relationship with my Higher Power.

How can I say I honor myself and the Divine if I am not taking care of myself or the one who dwells within me. This semester I have decided to take a moment to plan out meals to eat which are quick and easy to prepare, that I can prep once and dine multiple times, and that are easy enough for Zoe to reheat when she is hungry. I have budgeted time in for my exercises and physical therapy. I have given myself permission to take power naps when I need to.

Hope & Sesame & The Zenful Kitchen

September 13, 2018 Sharon Jacobson

This week I was going to reflect on what I learned about freezing from the book I am cooking my way through, The Make Ahead Vegan, but then life happened. Three people of varying importance in my life passed over and I, once again, found myself in this state of grief. I once again found myself wondering if meditations of my heart and my work in this world was making a difference. So I did what I normally do and then the signs began to pop up as they tend to do when I need them the most. Yet despite those signs I did not feel motivated to write about food. I wasn’t really feeling motivated to even cook food this week. It was just one of those weeks where I wondered how I could make eating plant based food feel junky and comforting. I haven’t been successful at that either. The the universe heard and answered my prayers in the form of the following random Facebook message from a woman and an organization I had never heard of.

Hi, Sharon--I found your blog when I was seeking inspirational words about how food is a global language. I am one of two founders of a non-profit in Austin, Texas, that is dedicated to help refugee women use their amazing cooking skills and heritage to earn money and integrate into our community. One of the things we do is host dinners--people buy tickets to come and eat food from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc., and meet these women, etc. We're about to do one with Chefugees from Syria and Iraq, and I would love to include the passage below on the inside of our printed menus (there will be one at each guest's place).

Bring It~

July 1, 2015 Sharon Jacobson

When you look at this image and this quote, they both provide the same advice. Whatever you are doing in life, bring it! Bring enthusiasm, bring your soul, and bring your passion to the dish or to whatever you do. A recipe is nothing more than a recipe. It is what you bring to it, how you prepare, and the love you infuse into it that brings it to life.

A dash of humility

September 3, 2014 Sharon Jacobson

I have often talked about the importance of cooking with love. It is that secret ingredient which people seem to be able to taste in your cooking. However, I have found that love without humility seems to affect the outcome of the dish. One of my favorite stories about this is told by Mary Beth Crain. She tells the story of making a dish for her mother which she should not have been eating as it was not a diabetic friendly dish.

I feel, however, that I must issue a warning: cooking with love doesn’t always bring great results. Over the holidays I got an old American Home Magazine from 1937, in which I found, of all things, an ad for Royal Baking Powder featuring a recipe from none other than the mother of famed aviatrix Amelia Earhart. For some odd reason I was entranced by the tinted color photo of white-haired old Mother Earhart, looking maternal and saintly, presenting her beautiful platter of fried chicken, gravy and biscuits made with foolproof Royal Baking Powder. The promo read, “’Amelia’s Favorite Dish is My Fried Chicken and Biscuits!’ Says the Mother of the World’s Most Famous Woman Flyer.”

Y is for You

May 7, 2014 Sharon Jacobson

This morning while I was posting my thought for the day to my blog on WordPress, I came across this picture about self-acceptance. While the picture has nothing to do with food, other than counting calories or eating vegan, it has do with something important to one’s approach to cooking, food, and spirituality – YOU. After all, as the sign says we are all different. Our relationships with ourselves, Spirit, and food is not about others, but about us.

As I thought about this, I realized that one could re-create this about food.

Gluttony

October 23, 2013 Sharon Jacobson

I came across this quote this morning by M F K Fisher, an American food writer, who wrote, “It is a curious fact that no man likes to call himself a glutton, and yet each of us has in him a trace of gluttony, potential or actual. I cannot believe that there exists a single coherent human being who will not confess, at least to himself, that once or twice he has stuffed himself to bursting point on anything from quail financiere to flapjacks, for no other reason than the beastlike satisfaction of his belly.” [1] I had to smile when I read this quote because I know that for myself this is so true. While I have never stuffed myself to the bursting point on quail financiere, nor have I ever had it, I have stuffed myself to that point on lobster in clarified butter, shrimp cocktail, sushi, sashimi, scallops, and a few other items, which just seem to scream more when I am eating them.

So why is it that we have all had our gluttonous moments, but none of us likes to own them? Why it is that we each have those stories of eating our way to this space of beastlike satisfaction of our belly, but we do not feel free to openly talk about it or share those moments, or to even acknowledge the possibility of their existence? Perhaps one of the reasons is because gluttony has been described by many spiritual writers as one of the seven deadly sins. Most people do not like to acknowledge participating in these sins during their daily lives.

It's Legendary

October 17, 2013 Sharon Jacobson

Last night, my Reiki teacher brought some of her left overs to share with us after my attunement. So I brought out our leftovers as well. This included collard greens Chilean butternut squash, cauliflower with cheese sauce, cabbage casserole, macaroni and cheese, and salad. As things made it to the table, Maryanna expressed how excited she was to try the casserole and the macaroni and cheese, as they are legendary. Her comment caught me off guard, as I have never thought about food or a dish as being legendary. I had no idea my cabbage casserole, which I still do not like, or my macaroni and cheese were so well known as to be legendary. However, apparently they are.

As I thought about this, I began to remember a conversation earlier in the week between my friends Nina, Sam and my wife Zoe. They were all talking about the dishes I had made for them that left them lingering for more. They enjoyed them so much that months after eating them the memory of the experience in their mouths lingered on and left them remembering and savoring every delectable bite. To be honest, nothing that I make leaves me with that feeling, although I am glad it does that for others.

The F Words

December 12, 2012 Sharon Jacobson

If you are even thinking this is going to be about that word you are wrong, it is really about a few other F words – fear, food, and faith. There are a few lessons, which have shaped my perspective and understanding of fear. One lesson was that fear is an acronym, which stands for FALSE EVIDENCE APPEARING REAL. As I thought about it, most of the things I feared were based on evidence that did not exist or had been constructed in my head. Another lesson I learned came from sociologist Allan Johnson,[1] who wrote about how our fears are based on what we think we know, whether they are true or not. Then there is what Franklin Delano Roosevelt said during his first inaugural address, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”[2] That is not to say that we do not ever experience fear, even the most enlightened of spiritual leaders experience fear. It is not whether or not we experience it, but what we do with it.

The Next Big Thing

November 21, 2012 Sharon Jacobson

This week my blog is slightly different then usual. L T Bentley invited me to be part of this blog hopping journey called The Next Big Thing. I think the purpose is to help us discover the next great book that we absolute have to read or an author whose works might just resonate with our spirits. I had never heard of her work before, but given that I am a Gemini, I am looking forward to reading something outside of the norm for me, her book Shattered Gemini, is a psychological murder mystery. Who knows her work might be the Next Big Thing, or perhaps mine is. Who knows? I have never written fiction that is unless you think about my life as a piece of fiction, which is a work in process. In my life story, then I am the main character and everyone else in my life are the supporting cast of characters.

Food and Numbers

September 12, 2012 Sharon Jacobson

If you have been reading my blog for any length of time at all, you know I usually write from my heart. Today, started no differently. Every time I sat down to write I found myself thinking about numbers and not food. After trying to focus on food, cooking, and the principles of Zen for several hours, I ultimately wound up back at numbers. Seeking inspiration, I pulled out one of my favorite cookbooks and randomly opened a page, which talked about the three basics of soup making. So here I was ultimately back at numbers again.

Food, Joy, and Happiness

July 4, 2012 Sharon Jacobson

At a dinner gathering a while back, one of our guests told me that my cooking made her feel so happy. As I spoke with her more about this, I came to realize that it had little to do with what I had made, or even about what she had eaten. What made her feel happy was the love she experienced sitting at our table. Sometimes we think food can make us happy. I will be the first one to tell you that a plate of sushi or sashimi will always bring a smile to my face. Digging the goodies out the ice cream is always a fun thing for me to do. When I was a child, I always loved twisting the cookies apart and licking the middle of the Oreo’s and sucking the cream out of the Twinkies.

The best thing I ever "ate"!

May 2, 2012 Sharon Jacobson

Yes, I know that is the name of a food network show, however, it is also a spiritual lesson I learned from some of the restaurants I have eaten at in my life. Things I have eaten at restaurants inspired some of the things I have made for my friends and family. For me, when I eat something amazing, you know one of those dishes that would be on your “the best thing I ever ate” list, I begin trying to unpack the process behind it and the ingredients within it. The process is similar to what Bobbi Flay and Anne Burrell had their contestants do on one episode of Worst Cooks in America. Here is a dish, figure out what is in it and how we made it.

Not Exactly a World Traveler.

April 26, 2012 Sharon Jacobson

So many of the chefs I have watched on television or read about in their cookbooks have spent a good part of their lives traveling around the world. My niece has just finished spending several months studying in Italy and after a brief reunion with my brother and her siblings will be traveling back to Switzerland. She has had an opportunity to travel to various regions and tasted some amazing food. She has been exposed to sauces, soups, spices, and ingredients I probably have never heard of.

Eating the Four Agreements

April 11, 2012 Sharon Jacobson

For the last few years, I have been working on living the four agreements as presented by don Miguel Ruiz. However, tonight I realized I had not thought about applying these agreements to a specific aspect of my life, my relationship with my body. I had focused on my mind and my spirit, but not my body. I had this epiphany while reading Marianne Williamson’s book A Course on Weight Loss. One of the things she wrote about was how it is not about the food, it is about your mind.

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