Judgment

Today’s Card: Judgment

When I paint, I can be going along quite freely until suddenly out of nowhere I stop and feel blocked. If I look very carefully, I almost always discover that underneath the block is a judgment I have either made about the painting or myself.

For example, when I paint over the course of a period of time, I might discover that the same image is coming up again and again and judge that: “Haven’t I painted this image before? I can’t paint the SAME image again. Someone might notice and think I’m unoriginal. Can’t I be finished with this same material and just move on? Why isn’t something new and fresh coming forward instead?”



These kinds of judgments and preferences can block the flow of creativity. Judgment of ourselves or of the creative process can cut us off from our spontaneous free expression.



We can “pop” these judgments right out of our consciousness by asking this simple question: What if it doesn’t matter if I do __________ or not? (Insert the judgment in the blank)

For example, “What if it doesn’t matter if I paint the same image or not?” When I let myself really feel this question inside, I give myself total freedom to express however I want and the block is broken. The painting process takes off again with energy, spontaneity, and interest.



So, as with all matters in life this helpful open-ended question can also be applied to food:

A few weeks ago, while we were traveling with my mother-in-law in Portland, (the above photos were taken in a market in Portland) we visited Powell’s bookstore, the largest bookstore in the country. We found a used Turkish cookbook I hadn’t seen before called The Sultan’s Kitchen. Ester was thrilled to see the pictures that reminded her of the food from her childhood. She pointed girlishly as she read the funky-sounding Turkish names of the recipes out loud to us. When we got back, I chose the Peasant Soup to make for us and loved it so much I made it for us the next week again. This hearty autumn soup is filled with a glorious conglomerate of root vegetables accompanied with bite-sized chicken pieces. It’s truly the best chicken soup I’ve ever had!



I really wanted to post this soup onto the blog but was telling myself that I couldn’t post another soup recipe because I’ve posted too many soup recipes already. Then, I realized for the last few days I was also putting off writing the blog! Bringing attention to the fact that I may be creatively blocked, I asked myself what the underlying judgment was and Voila! I was reminded to ask myself the question: "What if it really doesn’t matter if I put another soup recipe up on the blog or not?" Ha! The most obvious next step was this:



Turkish Peasant Soup
(Modified a little by me)

2-3 tbl olive oil
1 small Spanish onion
2 garlic gloves
3/4 pound boneless and skinless chicken breast, diced
2 carrots, finely diced *See Note
2 parsnips, finely diced
2 small potatoes, finely diced
1 small celery root knob, peeled and finely diced
2 leeks, trimmed and finely sliced (white parts only)
1 small turnip, finely diced
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
6 cups chicken stock
salt and pepper
lemon wedges

Note: Finely dicing vegetables does take some time. I use the time to practice my knife skills and find it a very meditative practice if done with a focused and calm mind.

Here’s how to finely dice a carrot: (The same principle can be applied to most of the vegetables listed here.)

Cut the carrot in half.

Then, cut the length of the carrot into 3-4 slices.

Then, cut those slices into battonettes.



Chop the battonettes into a fine dice.



1.) Heat the oil in a heavy pan. Add the onion and garlic and cook gently over medium heat for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon until their softened but not brown.

2.) Add the diced chicken, carrots, parsnips, potatoes, celery root, leeks, turnips and parsley. Stir in the flour and mix well until the vegetables and chicken are coated with flour. Pour in the stock and bring to a boil, then lower heat, cover the pan and simmer for 30 minutes.

3.) Season with salt and pepper and simmer for another 5 minutes. Serve with lemon wedges for squeezing over the soup.

Enjoy!

Love,
Lynn

http://www.thegameofyou.blogspot.com
http://www.lynnzavaro.com