Chocolate Chip Cookies with the Dalai Lama

When the Dalai Lama spoke at the University of Buffalo in September of 2007,  he reminded his audience that everyone has the right to be happy.  Just like that.  I wonder what makes the Dalai Lama happy.  I remember the photographer Galen Rowell said that when the Dalai Lama saw some images of the animals he had left behind in his native Tibet…that he leaped with glee.  I know that he would be happy if the world were at peace, if all religions coexisted peacefully and if there were no more world hunger.  On a smaller and more personal scale, I’ll bet that he might even like to sit and have a cup of tea and eat one of my chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven.  He seems down to earth.  It seems as if something this simple and this good would warm his heart.  I’ll bet my dog  with his wagging tail and winsome personality would make him smile.  We’d share a peaceful moment together…maybe we wouldn’t even need to talk.  Maybe the steaming tea, the warm chocolate chips, smiles from the heart and the breathing of the dog would be enough.  Real peace.  No pretensions.  Just living, and breathing, and eating, and smiling and sharing the company of another.  Sharing the God space.  Sharing what the planet has to offer.  Breathe.  Eat.  Drink.  Be.  Peaceful.  Simple.  Happy.  Serene.

Here’s my recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies: 

Mix together with an electric mixer then set aside:  (Organic ingredients if possible)

2 eggs

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 cup salted butter (softened)

1/2 cup olive oil

In a second bowl mix these dry ingredients with a spoon:

1 cup of rolled oats

1 cup of rice flour

1 1/2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

When mixed well, add to the wet mixture and mix once again with the hand mixer until all the the dry ingredients are mixed in. 

Mix in 10-12  ounces of semi-sweet chocolate morsels.

Refrigerate for one hour.

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.

Spoon the cookies onto stainless steel cookie sheets, approximately 16 cookies per sheet.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.  Put 2 sheets in the oven at once.  After 6 minutes switch the positions of the sheets on the racks for more even cooking.  After 9 minutes take the sheets out of the oven, push in the sides of the dough to create crevices and a more appealing appearance.  Slide the cookies back into the oven until the 12 minute period is over.  Remove the cookies from the cookie sheets.  Cool the cookies on metal cooling racks!  Makes 64 delicious cookies!  Mmm!

Pour yourself a cup of tea.  Sit with a few warm cookies and imagine that the Dalai Lama is there with you.  Experience the peace.

Sometimes All You Need is a Piece of Pie

Marcel Proust had his Madeleine cakes. When he dipped one of these scallop shaped desserts into his tea..it took him back to memories of times past. What takes you back to your fondest memories of the past…to that period of your life when everything seemed surrounded in golden light, a time when you were carefree and time seemed to stand still? One of these remembrances for me…is my grandmother’s apple pie…simple…and yet it fills me up on several levels…nourishing both my body and soul…bringing back memories of my grandmother’s Delft blue wooden kitchen chairs with their handmade braided wool seat covers, her matching blue spice rack with milk glass spice jars lined up in neat rows, each adorned with red metallic lids, scenes of Holland imprinted on each in blue…windmills, Dutch people in wooden clogs and traditional dress…the names of the jars’ contents printed in red Gothic lettering…Ginger, Cinnamon, Allspice, Cloves, Salt, Mustard and Pepper, my grandmother’s wonderful smile and kind words, the sun shining through her many glass prisms hanging in her kitchen windows, my grandmother letting me help her with the cutting up of the apples and the rolling of the crust, reading at the kitchen table while wonderful smells drifted out of the oven as my grandmother tidied up the cooking area…perfection, peace, comfort, love.

Grandma Dinah’s Apple Pie Recipe

Prepare the filling and set aside until the crust is ready:

Peel and slice 8 apples of your choice.

Mix the apples with:

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

a pinch of salt

2 Tablespoons flour

1/2 cup sugar

Crust:Mix 2 cups of white flour with 1 teaspoon of salt

Add 1/2 cup oil and mix

Sprinkle 3 Tablespoons of cold water on the top of the mixture and mix well.

Divide the dough in half.

Roll the first half between pieces of waxed paper. Peel off and discard the waxed paper.

Put the bottom crust n a 9 inch pie plate.

Add the filling.

Roll the top crust. Remove and discard the waxed paper.

Put the crust on the top of the pie. Pinch and trim the edges. Add a few vent marks with the prongs of a fork. Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes and 375 degrees for 30 minutes. If you find the edges are browning too quickly…wrap the strips of aluminum foil around them. Enjoy!