Astrological Cookery
General Forecast for February
2007
By Judith Martin
Straw
February has two kinds of
‘new year” celebrations- Chinese new Year on the 17th ushers in the
year of the pig, a time of feasting and merriment.
And Feb 2nd, which most of us know as Groundhog
Day, is also the ancient Irish holiday of Bridgit, the day when winter’s
slumber ends, and the first awakening of Spring begins. We can see that there is
cause for waking up and feeling good. If you want the best of Feb for So Cal,
your job is to hope for a wet one. It’s already been a dry winter, and we
often get a lot of rain in February - now is the moment to be mindful and
thankful of the water we have, and ask for more to fall. It’s going to be
a very generous month-let’s be good to each
other.
Aries - Some kind of giveaway is
hoping to give something to you. Might be the perfect time to enter a contest,
or buy a raffle ticket. And when you’re poised to get, it’s always
good to give- make a donation, clean a closet, volunteer. The universe loves
balance.
Taurus - Are you doing
something that is not in your own best interests? What’s happening on your
private agenda that does not square with the long term goal? Ask yourself and
then revise the plan. You need to be on your side all the time, not just some of
the time.
Gemini - Partnership is your
specialty, and this is a great time for investing more effort and energy in it.
You and your lover, spouse, business partner or workout buddy have some really
great stuff coming your way.
Cancer -
Major housecleaning, or is it really just time to move? There’s no harm in
just pretending you’re moving and getting rid of all that excess stuff
while you are waiting to find out what’s going on. If you aren’t
willing to take it with you, then you don’t need it
now.
Leo - It’s time to remind
yourself that the flesh is not the enemy of the spirit- it is the vehicle that
gets the spirit from here to there. Try to keep your disciple in balance-not too
many miles to run, not too many glasses of Merlot, and you’ll get even
more accomplished.
Virgo - Women, lots
of happy women, perhaps you are one of them, or you just have a bunch of them in
your life at the moment. Whatever you are doing, keep doing
it.
Libra - A good time to make a bold
move. Is there a promotion you have your eye on, or someone sweet you want to
meet? Courage and persistence, and the gods will find favor with
you.
Scorpio - There isn’t any
part of you life that won’t benefit from your passionate creativity. Break
a habit, take a chance, buy yourself a big box of crayons and see where your
doodles inspire you to go.
Sagittarius
- Lady luck is smiling down on you- Smile back! This is a great time for you to
plan out some big goals, and take the first step to achieve
them.
Capricorn - It’s time to
finish off that big project, and get ready to hand it over to someone else to
manage. You have put in great effort, and you’ll enjoy some great success,
but you don’t need to keep your hand on the tiller. Find a good manager,
and take a break.
Aquarius - There may
be strife on the way, but you know how to fight the good fight, and keep your
own ethics flying. Don’t let the challenge distress you-your role is to
meet the challenge and not lose your cool
center.
Pisces - It’s time to
fasten your ideals to the bulletin board and read them every day until you have
them memorized. Life can be like this- Just focus and find a way to step
forward.
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February
is Aquarius
Here we are, wishing a
very happy birthday to our friends of the Aquarian persuasion. You are the sign
most likely to be vegetarian, or vegan, you are the sign most likely to vote
Green or Peace and Freedom, you are the sign whose recycling bin is always full
before the garbage bin is even halfway up. Simply put, you are the folks most
likely to be reading The Free Venice Beachhead. And you subscribe to the Nation,
just to prove to yourself it’s not all about the poetry. You have the
balanced blessing of being very committed freedom lovers; open to almost
anything except changing your ideals. Perhaps being born in this time of dark
night and deep dreaming gives you a gift for dreams in particular. We have not
been singing about the Age of Aquarius for the last 30 years without knowing
that it means peppermint and parsley for all. Not the little white candies with
the red stripes- we are talking about a serious cup of tea. And parsley is not
on your plate to garnish it- you eat it after your meal to freshen your breath.
But, all you Aquarians know this. You are devoted lovers of peppermint tea and
dedicated parsley munchers as well.
In the quiet peace of your own kitchen, most things are labeled organic- the
exception being those things that do not even have labels, because you bought
them from the farmer’s market or bartered them for some bodywork. Your
pots and pans might be second-hand, your tools a bit jumbled, but you know where
everything is at the exact moment you need it. You like to keep it simple, but a
nice plate and a hand woven napkin might grace the table, with perhaps a little
candlelight. Simple doesn’t mean Spartan, not for our Aquarius friends.
And when you finish, you’ll be scraping those last bits into the compost
bin, because you really do love your Mother. Still, there won’t be much
left over from this dish, because it’s everything you like best- Simple,
veggie, easy enough to do but challenging enough to be interesting, and soul
satisfying like a cold peppermint tea on a hot winter’s
day.
Japanese Bean Rice ( Mame
Gohan)
3 Tsps dried yellow soy beans
(daizu)
1 1/2 cups short grain rice (white
does better than brown, here)
1 1/2 cups
water
1 Tsp
sake
1 1/2 tsp
salt
Toast the soy beans in a dry
saucepan, shaking the pan over medium heat for about 2 minutes. Beans will
crackle a bit, smell nice and scorch in some spots. Don’t worry-
it’s part of the plan.
Cool beans
on a plate. When completely cool, fold beans in a clean tea towel, and go over
them with a rolling pin, to break the beans and slip the skins. Give it three
minutes, or 108 rolls of the rolling pin. Spread the beans out on a fresh towel
and pick out the meat, discard (compost!) the
skins.
Place rice in a saucepan, along
with the beans and everything else. Cook it like your average pot of rice, (I
like to kill the flame on the last five minutes and just let it finish itself
with ambient heat- ) Make certain your lid is on snug; steam is essential to
happy rice.
This recipe is a
traditional part of the Setsubun Festival in Japan, which takes place in
February. It’s just the dish for you.
And , it goes very nicely with-
Spinach with Walnut Dressing
1/2 pound of stemmed, washed
spinach
4 large whole walnuts (or 1/3 cup
chopped)
1 tsp
sugar
4 tsps soy
sauce
sake or water
Parboil spinach briefly- very briefly.
Like the amount of time you are tasting your soy beans. Rinse the spinach in
cold water, and gently squeeze the excess. Cut the spinach into 1 inch wide
shreds. Crush walnuts, but don’t pulverize them. You want dressing, not
butter. Add sugar and soy and mix. Dilute to taste with sake or water. Toss with
spinach, and enjoy.
You can feed your
happy vegan self or treat a bunch of
friends.
They know your rice is co-op,
your spinach is organic, and your sake is as warm as your smile. A cup of
peppermint tea makes a lovely dessert.
Posted: Thu - February 1, 2007 at 05:33 AM