RECIPE - Chocolate Brownie Pancakes

We had a special occasion breakfast this morning.

I fixed Chocolate Brownie Pancakes from a recipe I found at www.recipezaar.com. Of course, I never follow a recipe exactly as written. This one was originally for waffles. I added a little extra milk to make the batter thinner for pancakes.

CHOCOLATE BROWNIE PANCAKES
Modified from a 1966 circular recipe for waffles. Would be great with icecream, too.

8 servings
25 minutes, 10 minutes prep

1/2 c butter, melted (I used unsalted butter)
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate
1 c sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1/2 c milk (for waffles, more for pancakes)
Other optional ingredients: chocolate chips, nuts, shredded coconut, berries

1. Melt butter and chocolate in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, add sugar and beat well.
2. Add vanilla and allow to cool.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, beat well. Sift flour, baking powder and cinnamon. (I left out the cinnamon)
4. Add flour mixture alternately with milk to chocolate mixture.
5. Add your choice of optional ingredients. (I added 1/4 c chocolate chips)
6. Bake pancakes in a pan on low-med head. Bake waffles according to directions on waffle iron. Waffles will crisp as they cool.
7. Refrigerate any left over batter. Batter will keep for several days in refrigerator.
8. If using from refrigerated, add 1/4 tsp baking powder dissolved in 1 tsp water for every cup cold batter.

I left the cinnamon out of the batter because the chocolate/cinnamon combo didn't appeal to everyone. Instead, I put the cinnamon on the table to sprinkle on if desired.

In addition to traditional maple syrup and I made a hot fruit topping. For a single serving, I put 2 handfuls of frozen mixed berries in a bowl, heated it on High in the microwave for 1min30sec until bubbly. This can be poured the over the chocolate pancakes in place of syrup.

Enjoy! They're yummy!

COPYRIGHT 2006 - Effusive Muse Publishing

The Chanteuse & The Recluse

I've been in a deep hibernation this winter. Now, with Spring officially right around the corner it seems like the right time to step back out onto the big stage, maybe on different terms.

I'm a quiet person. A thinker of deep thoughts. A real artsy fartsy kind of geeky music girl. And I'm OK with that.

For a while, I thought I had to be like so many performers who live life on the go, working constantly at self-promotion, seeing the world as one big business opportunity. Nothing wrong with that. Just not my style.

I've realized that my center of gravity is in a completely different place.

For me, the public moments of performance and risk taking will always require a counterbalancing time of cozy contemplation at home. Without this, life begins to spin off center.

I can't deny that both the Chanteuse and the Recluse are part of who I am. I create the things I do because of these counterbalancing forces. And I'm OK with that.

It's taken a while to get to this point.

The downside is that so many people see this whole music/art thing as one big competition, like a sporting event where there always are winners and losers. Many people make their music/art/entertainment/fashion choices based on who they think is going to be a winner rather that what really speaks to them. We are a culture of success by proxy.

It's like during the Olympics when the women skaters were being interviewed after their world class performances. The guy behind the microphone just didn't get it. One skater, who had come in 2nd, was asked on national TV if she was disappointed about "only getting the silver". She had done beautifully, worked for years to get where she was, had just come off the ice after an extreme effort. Her presence at the Olympics made it obvious that she was one of the best skaters in the world. The interviewer's question showed a lack of understanding and respect for what she had accomplished.

He was more interested in whether she'd won than what she'd done.

Typical of our culture right now.

Real life is about doing. It's about not being a spectator. It's about bringing a little bit of beauty out to be shared with others, taking a chance that it will inspire just one person along the way.

Real life is about forming real bonds with real people though conversation. It's not about making heroes out of distant entertainment icons, or comparing ourselves with them. When these entertainers fail to satisfy our needs, we denounce them as losers and move on to the next big thing.

Sadly, the fear of "losing" and appearing foolish keeps a lot of people from getting out and doing the things they were meant to do. We spend our own lives sitting at home in front of the TV when we might have been out discovering what we're capable of creating on our own.

We all lose when this happens.

I've rambled on long enough. I guess this is a pep-talk is for me as much as anyone else. I'm preparing the Chanteuse to emerge from her long hibernation, to discover how she's been changed by the self-prescribed seclusion.

I will take the doing beyond my own front door.

And I will still make time for cozy songwriting and art making. Time to cook another big pot of lentil soup to package up for the freezer. Time to put a log from the old apple tree into the woodstove. Time to clean out the barn and the attic, to make room for this new phase of life.

Quiet doers unite!

COPYRIGHT 2006 - Effusive Muse Publishing

Little New Year's Things

Happy New Year!

Today I'm cleaning my studio, starting the year off fresh by getting rid of years of accumulated junk. I've dumped all the little mementos into boxes to sort through later. I have a pail of warm water with lavender scented cleaning soap and a rag to scrub away the yuck. Discovering lots of interesting stuff under the layers of debris in my piling system.

Here are some of my finds:

MOST RELEVANT FIND: A 2002 email I'd printed out where a friend from Germany described the meaning of "zwischen den Jahren", "time between the years", the week between Christmas and New Years, traditionally a time of rest and renewal.

MOST IRONIC FIND: Found my copy of "The Miracle of Mindfulness" by Thich Nhat Hanh had fallen back behind some equipment in my studio. Didn't even realize it was missing. I found it sitting next to a dusty flashlight that I'd left ON about 6 years ago when I crawled back behind my desk to connected a bunch of recording equipment together.

WEIRDEST FIND: Glow-in-the-dark plastic lizard who's been sitting on my window sill for the past 8 years. I don't even remember where he came from or why I have him. Maybe I'll put him in my coat pocket and leave him someplace unexpected for someone else to find.

TO PONDER: Do glow-in-the-dark things ever stop recharging, like rechargeable batteries that get used over and over and won't recharge anymore?

NICEST FIND: Discovered it's possible created a portable meditation altar with an 8-inch square of black paper and a feng shui pillar candle in a pottery bowl. I started doing my morning yoga in my studio a few days ago. The top of my scanner turned out to be the perfect place to set a candle, right in front of the window looking out at the dogwood tree. Then when I start to work I can move this little focal point to another location. Makes me feel peaceful. There are five candles to choose from: Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Metal. Each is a different color and smells like a different kind of incense. In the morning, I choose one to match the energy I feel like I need that day, ... whatever that means. (These were a Christmas gift.)

I'm resting my feet for now, sipping IBC Root Beer from a tall brown bottle. I've been working for almost 7 hours with only a few breaks for snacks and other necessities. Listened to Paul Winter's "Missa Gaia" CD earlier. Sang along. Danced around. It's a New Years thing. :-)

The decorations and items I've removed from the studio were brought in here 5-8 years ago to inspire me to finish the CD. They've lost their relevance now that I've reached that goal and moved beyond.

I visualize transforming this studio into a space that reflects all the current creative threads in my life. My goal is to weave them together into a more coherent whole in the coming year, both publicly and privately, to build in a meaningful way on what's already been accomplished. Balance!

Wishing you inspiration, energy and opportunity in the New Year!

Peace!
Kay

COPYRIGHT 2006 - Effusive Muse Publishing

Love Triangle

Had a realization this morning.

I've always existed in a sort of love triangle between imagination and that thing most people call reality.

I wondered whether it would be best if I became more grounded. My imagination can fill me with worries. Sometimes I lose perspective. Sometimes the world inside my head acts as a shield, keeping me from experiencing the present moment as deeply. Sometimes it closes me up inside walls where only the steady hand of a trusted love can reach in and bring me out.

At other times imagination is a window, a source of creativity feeding countless possibilities. Life becomes hollow without this. Inner vision allows me to shape experiences and be shaped by them. It keeps me open. It brings things into being from nothing but raw materials and focused attention.

Recognizing this love triangle is freeing.

It's all a part of who I am.

I've decided it's OK to love the vividness of life while loving the ideas it inspires just as fiercely. It's OK to keep my imagination close to my heart while looking outside myself for new experiences to fall in love with.

Each creates the other. No need to choose between them.

Circumstances aren't always a matter of choice, but I can choose how my imagination interacts with the circumstances of my life.

I'm grateful that my life is mostly very happy. It's so much more difficult to imagine good outcomes when illness, loss and conflict dominate the landscape. I'm sure these will visit my life again. All part of the human condition. Maybe I can strengthen my inner vision and be a little more prepared for difficulties when they reappear.

COPYRIGHT 2005 - Effusive Muse Publishing

HOW TO BE AN ANTI-DIVA

I want to be an Anti-Diva.

An Anti-Diva is true to herself. She knows herself, her values and spiritual beliefs. She shows integrity in all she does.

An Anti-Diva encourages others to reach their full creative potential, as she does her own creative work.

An Anti-Diva values teamwork over competition, but when she must compete she does so in a way that's respectful of the needs of others.

An Anti-Diva isn't into conspicuous consumption or materialism. No "bling" as a way to show status. The one concession an Anti-Diva makes is to say, "One can never have too many sequins."

An anti-diva is eco-friendly and works for social justice. She strives to be aware of the ways her choices effect others, both in her personal relationships, as well as in her local and global community.

An Anti-Diva values relationships more than "connections." She values creating a meaningful life over making a living.

An Anti-Diva would rather work in the garden than go shopping for shoes.

More to come.

COPYRIGHT 2005 - Effusive Muse Publishing