Collection 2

Together In Personhood

Reflections and observations, from living deeply in togetherness. How can we learn to live more deeply together? How do we meet nature, ourselves, each other, everyday?
This collection began as I moved to Italy, and found myself transcribing the lessons, beauty, and learnings within everyday moments, as I was held in a life of community and traditions of unity.
I began to understand the true feeling of belonging, and honour this solidarity we have as human beings to be alive; beyond loss, with nature, to share with each other, to adapt, to meet each other in togetherness.
Feeling a compulsion, a feeling as though if I didn’t, key lessons would be lost, I began to document. These are those stories.

*(Mostly unedited).

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MINA.
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She took an intentional moment,
To step into the space between us,
Maybe hoping to create a body of water in which we could swim,
or even a bridge.

I sensed her sounds,
her footsteps echoing within the village streets—lined by colourful houses,
colours to match the nature in which it sits.

As she laid down a doormat to line my doorway,
and a plant to sit beside it,
I peered over the edge of my window ledge,
perhaps catching a moment I wasn’t to see.
I saw the world in that moment,
a place where we are each responsible for the beating of each other's hearts.

The cold air no longer felt cold,
As if I was lined with blankets,
The sound of a kettle filled my ears,
I could see its steam,
My senses heightened to the street that connected us.

She created,
an entire highway,
For us to go between.

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A SIMPLE RECIPE FOR ARTICHOKES.
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Together with friends we shared these artichokes one late Spring night, an impromptu meal over local red wines, meat on the bone from the village macelleria (butcher), some wild mint we picked from the streets on the way home, and freshly harvested olive oil from a friend's orchard stored by the 20kg barrel.

The next day, we made brodo (broth) from the bones of the steak (adding a simple: onion, garlic, potato, and a few discarded fridge vegetables), a tonic for the wines drunk the evening before.

Recipe for great artichokes to share: 
1. Prepare your artichokes:
Take a bowl and fill it with water and a big splash of white wine vinegar or lemon juice: this will prevent the artichokes from browning as we prepare them.

Peel and slice the stems into thin pieces and place them into the bowl of water.  Then slice off the top 2 cm of the artichoke heads so they are flat on top.

Peel off the outer leaves of the heads and discard, until you reach the firm, young layers, stop peeling.

Halve artichokes with a sharp knife, then, using a spoon, scrape out the white hair-like ‘choke’ and discard. 

You should be left with the heart of the artichoke and some of the soft outer edible leaves, add these to the bowl of water. Repeat until all are prepared.

2. Boil:  in salty water for 10-20 mins, or until soft.

3. Fry: in olive oil or butter, lightly charring (this is the key) while you sprinkle over salt and a little more olive oil.

Share.

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SLOW DINNER.
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Summer’s claws again.
It feels as though summer continues to hold us in its depths,
Although I thought these days should have passed already.
The tricks of the mind, I think.

The sun is bright,
And there is the dry - as if everything is already on fire,
We wait for the rain.

Food, a reflection of how we feel,
At times a teller of our deepest truths.

Today we put it all into a single pan,
Handing over responsibility to the oven to do the “work”,
Slow-cooking in response to the mood where it’s too hot to move any faster than slow.

Our meal too preserving energy,
Eating dessert and dinner all at once.

‘Recipe’
In a deep baking tray:
1x golden nugget pumpkin, halved and de-seeded
A handful of white peaches, whole
1x pork shoulder (around 500g)
1x onion, quartered
4-5 cloves of garlic, peeled
A few sprigs of thyme
A few sprigs of rosemary
Pinches of lake salt and freshly cracked pepper- rubbed onto the surface of every ingredient

Bake in a low oven, for about 2 hours. At the end grill on high until crackling forms on the pork (grill everything).

At the end of the meal, take the end of the sourdough loaf that is now becoming stale on your benchtop, and mop up the deliciousness left on your plate.

We mill some flour, and mix up a new loaf of sourdough bread, sitting it on the bench to ferment.

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HOW TO ENJOY A SLOW, LONG AND LATE LUNCH.
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Sit at a really long table.
Fill it with people you love.

Essential ingredients: carafes of local wine, a tablecloth of some form, local cheeses, salamis, a preserve of some form (such as stuffed red peppers or pickled cardooni), a main pasta dish, followed by a baked vegetable and meat dish, followed by a dessert and espresso, finished with a digestive and a piece of seasonal fruit.

As the meal progresses, you must talk about food as you eat the food, analysing it thoroughly and mostly speaking about food.

You may also speak of your joy, your woes, your children and the world.

Fall into bed, as if you never will eat again. Until the next week, where you will undoubtedly do it all again.

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