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There are a lot of things bringing my heart rate up these days on both the micro and macro level. I hardly need to list them, right? The air just feels charged with unease. But right at this moment, I want to focus on things that are slowing my heart rate down. Things helping me breathe into and through this moment. If you are feeling the same way, I offer this list as a jumping off point for you to write your own.
Things slowing down my heart rate right now:
Hanukkah parties with latkes and freshly fried churros.
Bea’s drawings of fruit bowls.
The Ezra Klein Show’s exceptional, clear-eyed coverage and interviews around the war in Israel and Gaza. (Particularly this episode.)
Max playing Let it Be on the piano.
Volunteering to bring fresh fruit and vegetables to a nearby hotel-turned-temporary-housing for asylum seekers.
Hanukkah Klezmer concerts that remind me to dance despite it all.
A recent stroll around the snowy fields at Boulder JCC’s Milk and Honey Farm.
The 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique. Do you know it? My therapist taught it to me the other day, and it helps. I shared it with Max, and he said, “Oh we already do this at school during mindfulness time.” Good job Max’s school! (And many NYC schools, apparently? (Scroll down to #20)
Walking by the farmer’s market vendor where Yoshie and I got our wedding flowers from.
Making an end-of-year donation to the Movement Voter Project. 2024 is going to be all-hands-on-deck, y’all.
This sunny, flowery tablecloth from Jewish Food Society.
Baking Hanukkah cookies with the same cookie cutters I used as a kid.
Hopscotch in Prospect Park.
Watching my beloveds build Lego sets together. (Thanks for the Hanukkah gift, bubbe!)
The increasing light glowing from our menorahs each night.
The increasing light. The increasing light. The increasing light.
We have a lot of work ahead of us this coming year. Work to save lives. Work to repair our souls. Work to rebuild frayed connections. Work to save our country from free-falling into dictatorship next November. Work to right the ship towards a livable climate. We can only proceed with clear hearts and steady minds, so let us remember to rest and breathe as we go.
Wintry Fig and Lemon Granola
Speaking of things slowing down my heart rate, this granola has brought me a surprising amount of joy in recent days. According to *science,* the blood sugar stabilizing effect of fiber-rich oats, and the bright scent of lemon zest have mood boosting properties. Okay! (It also doesn’t hurt that this granola tastes remarkably similar to a fig and lemon scone I’m obsessed with at R&D Foods in Brooklyn.)
I’ve shared granola inspiration in this newsletter before—specifically my Maple Buckwheat Granola, which has decidedly Eastern European flair. This granola, which combines jammy figs, raisins, almonds, and pistachios plus a heap of lemon zest and juice, is pure sunshine and sea breezes. It would make a delicious Tu Bishvat breakfast, if you want to tuck the recipe away for next month. But it is also just right for right now.
Pro tip: Perfect, clumpy granola
I have tried a lot of methods over the years to achieve those perfect clumps in my homemade granola, and I think I have finally cracked the code (thanks to the Internet, not my own genius brain): FLOUR.
Adding flour to granola might seem strange, but combined with sticky honey (or maple syrup), oil, and a blast of low-and-slow heat from the oven, it bonds the oats and nuts together into a mass that, once it has fully cooled (don’t skip the cooling step!), can be broken into gorgeous, crispy clusters. You can use all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, gluten-free all-purpose flour, or chickpea flour…and likely other flours as well, but that’s a good list to start. Go get baking, and crunching!
Wintry Fig and Lemon Granola
Feel free to swap in pecans or walnuts for the pistachios and almonds, or change the raisins to chopped dried apricots, dried cherries, or whatever you prefer. I like the complexity of sweetness you get from the combination of honey and maple syrup, but you can also choose to just use one or the other. Just don’t skip the lemon zest and those jammy figs because, yum.
Makes about 6 cups (500 g)
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