Some less impatient people than me say that cooking soothes them and clears their mind. If there is one thing this current situation has provided, it’s time. So I am getting involved.
Like everyone, I have started to take more time, care and pleasure in the process of preparation: revelling and rejoicing in chopping.
Eating breakfast is one of my favourite things. Event breakfast as I like to call them when occasion calls.
So often “grabbing a piece of fruit” is the easy option in life. With the vast expanse of time, I have been making a real meal out of it. Making everything deliberate – the choosing, sniffing, squeezing, chopping, plating and finally eating.
Going out to forage for the fruit really takes on a whole new meaning and relevance right now.
Simple food preparation is a fabulous opportunity to still the mind, turning down the volume to all other thoughts. Aside from the health benefits, a well prepared plate of fruit is also a real treat for the eyes. I am not really into craft, but arranging fruit on a plate, is a newly discovered favourite in the Self-Care Top Tips
Making a meal of it..
And in my newly discovered mindfulness practice, I learnt something new too. Have you ever tried to cut prepare a grapefruit? Like really? I hadn’t.
Attempt 1. Cut it in half and serve in a bowl as they do in a magazine or grandparents. Gouging the flesh juice squirts everywhere, wasting most of the segments. You end up sticky with sore fingers from the spoon indentation and very little actual sweet deliciousness in your mouth. Chalk that one up as a fail.
Attempt 2. Peel like an orange. Break apart segments in hands. Get covered in juice again. Enjoy very little flesh. Again.
2 for 2. Not so mindful.
Attempt 3. Firstly, the sun is out today so I spend a moment being grateful for that. Every day the sun shines is a reason to be cheerful.
This may be an exercise in mindfulness but a girl’s gotta eat…Armed with my freshly brewed coffee, I finally do what I should have done all along. Our modern day oracle for practical advice. “How do you peel a grapefruit Dr.You Tube?”
And so I began. Slowly, patiently and mindfully I peeled and segmented the grapefruit, properly.
Thinking through each slice and dice.
Contemplating through the silence and the sunlight.
The fruits of my labour forming.
Beautiful, fulsome and glistening grapefruit segments. Taking the time to do it correctly, brimming with pride and joy as I looked down on these pink jewels. This chopping game is alright isn’t it? Collected into a bowl, I savoured every sweet, delicate mouthful.
I also made granola from the dregs of oats, nuts and honey – whacked in a baking tray with the zest of aforementioned lemon for good measure.
Honestly, one peeled grapefruit and a tray of homemade granola – suddenly I’m plotting an artisan side hustle packaged in recycled Bonne Maman jam jars that fill my cupboards.
The world is an uncertain place, but we can control how we feel. Slowing down our minds on simple tasks that bear fruit can actually deliver maximum impact for good.
Plus, a girls gotta eat.
Maybe patience really is a virtue after all?
Very best,
Natalie
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