A Wave Rider

A very wise woman recently told me, as we were having a discussion about the “shoulds and shouldn’ts” of feelings, “don’t fight your emotions, allow them to unfold as they come and envelope you in rawness so you can feel their true essence and the cords that are stemming from deep within you and connect the many aspects of your life”.

Very beautiful and so true!

This goes right along the lines that I always bring up with my patients: “feelings are always true as they are subjective points of our emotional perception of certain events or life views, therefore nobody can tell you there is no way you feel it (because you do, and are totally entitled to!),, however, feelings can be based on faulty beliefs, which are cognition-based (so this is where therapy, along with me, come waltzing in your life 🙂 ).

In a continuing discussion with the wise woman, she gave me a visual metaphor to literary ride the feelings waves as they come: “imagine female surfers, they don’t fight the waves, they ride them going with each wave’s flow, don’t resist the power of the ocean, harness it and use it to propel yourself forward, up or down but never under, know the exact moment when the danger comes of being overwhelmed by the wave and pulled underneath, release the rains and the pressure and allow yourself to be still and motionless and experience the calm after the thrill or the fears of a ride have disappeared”.

I might add, dive deep into emotions but know the moment when you’re being dragged into a black hole of despair and depression or unproductive fantasies, remove yourself (sometimes literary) from the circumstances or release the feelings that no longer serve you or impede your personal growth. Ride the waves like a pro because letting go will always bring you on top.

What’s Cooking This Week

With Jewish holidays coming to a close, Yom Kippur today (and my mom’s birthday), it’s time to break the fast with something sweet and satisfying as soon as the Sun goes down. Traditionally round challah (rather than a long braided one) is made for Rosh Hashanah to symbolize the circle of life and welcome in yet another year, sweet round challah or rolls stuffed with honey or raisins are often made for the first post-Yom Kippur meal too. These honey and nuts swirl rolls are great for breakfast or an afternoon tea and will help you ponder all the waves and turns (hopefully happy ones) that the new year will bring. For this recipe I’m mostly using King Arthur gluten free flour, which is a bit of a diversion from my usual Cup4Cup or Authentic Foods flour mixes. King Arthur provides just a tad grainier flour than very fine milled Cup4Cup or Authentic Foods as I wanted more texture and somewhat denser bread product. King Arthur is still a superb gluten free flour blend and is my #3 favorite among all gluten free flours.

Honey and Pecans Swirl Rolls

Makes 4 large rolls:

4 cups of flour (I used gluten free combo of Cup4Cup and King Arthur) + 3 tspoons of xanthan gum if the blend doesn’t have any

1/3 cup of warm water

7+1 Tbspoons of olive oil

1 packet of active dry yeast

1/4 cup of honey

1 1/2 tspoon of salt

2+1 eggs

4 Tbspoons of chopped pecans

2 Tbspoons of cinnamon mixed with 2 Tbspoons of sugar

Combine warm water with honey and add active yeast, set it aside for 5-10 minutes to proof it. In a bowl, combine flour, salt, xanthan gum (if using it), add 2 eggs, one at a time and then slowly incorporate the yeast mixture, add olive oil, 1 Tbspoon at a time, gently knead the dough on a lightly greased surface and form a ball. Place the dough in a warm draft free place and cover it with plastic, let it rest for 1-2 hours or untill it doubles in size.

Deflate the dough, knead it again, cut into four equal parts and roll each part first as a long, about 12-15 inch, rope and then roll it out to open inside, place a row of chopped pecans and sprinkle them with sugar and cinnamon mix.

Roll the dough in with the filling inside and make sure all the ends and seams are sealed. Start rolling the dough rope from the inside creating a large swirl. Brush each roll first with some olive oil and then with an egg wash (1 egg mixed with 1 Tbspoon of cold water). Let the rolls rest again before baking.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until the tops are golden. Sprinkle the tops with more mix of sugar and cinnamon right after they are out of the oven. Slice across (or eat the whole thing 🙂  ).

Sweet (but not too overpowering) slices are perfect to enjoy with a cup of tea or for breakfast the morning after the fast is broken.

Enjoy!