Pears Poached in Rose Tulsi Tea & Mandarin with Creamy Rice
I’ve been wintering.
My energy has drawn inward like the curling of a fern, soft and slow.
I haven’t “shown up” on social media for over a week and it feels so right. I’m simply listening. Resting. Creating.
Daily, I find myself in what I now call my heart kitchen, much like an artist returning to their studio. Something that once was a daily ritual for me.
Ingredients are now my companions. Like paint and brush of old, they hold alchemy and magic. They reveal textures of memory and emotion. I notice which ones call to me, which ones hold the potentiality of healing, of expression, of delight in the present moment.
This morning, I feel drawn to a small bowl of rice left over from yesterday, and so, I pour over written contemplations about ingredients and recipes, searching for clues as to how I might transform this small seemingly neglected bowl into something full of prāṇa Shakti.
I take a walk through the garden and allow the wintery near-noon-day sun to bathe my being as I watch a small patch of herbs, each plant pulsing with prāṇa and begin to wonder how they want to be part of my life. Not just medicinally, but relationally. Could they be allies? Teachers? Offerings?
We’re currently preparing for a retreat, and with it comes the blessing of seva, so much devotion, preparation, and love poured into every detail. By the end of Satsang last night, I felt deeply full… brimming with Shakti… but also quietly longing for this pause.
Returning to the heart kitchen from my walk, I feel a surge of energy inviting me to take pause and to come sit with some tiny cardamom pods and cinnamon bark which I begin to peel, crack, and grind by hand.
I have the thought, is this ridiculous, there are ground spices, here and in the pantry, there is an electric spice grinder, over there, on the bench! But, I am loving the pause. It feels luxurious.
So I bracket out those thoughts and stay with my own feelings, to sit, to peel, to crack, to grind and it’s magical. The emerald-black seeds bloom into the air like incense…..
Between my fingers I feel the fullness of the plant, the memory of soil, seed, sun and it’s now all in my hands.
The morning light shifts through the kitchen, as I craft this sacred medicine: warm, soft, and fragrant. And I feel this is a dish for the wise woman. A dish for wintering.
All the while, the candle on my Annapurna altar flickers. I feel the presence of the Mother, the still watch of Shiva, and the vast creative holding of Shakti around me.
I offer this to you beloveds with love may this offering hold you during your wintering.
🍐 Pearl of the Morning: Creamy Rice with Poached Pears in Rose Tulsi
A soul-warming winter bowl that balances Vata and nourishes the heart, tissues, and subtle body.
Just a gentle reminder - I rarely measure anything so these are my guesstimations 🙏🏽
🌾 Creamy Rice Base
Ingredients:
½ cup cooked basmati or brown rice ( you could even use red or black rice if you had some for fun)
1 cup plant milk (almond, oat, or dairy)
1 tsp ghee or coconut oil
A pinch of salt
¼ tsp ground cardamom
Optional: sliver of cinnamon stick, 1 tsp maple syrup or jaggery, and a drop of rose water
Method:
Warm the ghee in a small pot. Add the rice, salt, cardamom, cinnamon and milk.
Simmer gently, stirring with presence, until creamy (about 10 minutes).
Sweeten if desired.
* you can also add soaked medjool dates if you want a sweet kick
Fresh Rosemary from our garden
Fresh Oregano
🍊 Poached Pears in Rose Tulsi & Mandarin
Ingredients:
1–2 pears, halved or quartered
1½ cups water
Zest and juice of 1 mandarin
A drop or two of rose water
A scrape or drop of vanilla
1 rose tulsi tea bag (or 1 tsp loose rose tulsi blend)
Optional: sliver of fresh ginger or a small piece of cinnamon bark
Method:
Bring water to a gentle boil with tea, zest, juice, and any spices. Cover and steep 5 minutes.
Add pears and simmer gently for 10–12 minutes, or until tender.
Remove pears and reduce the liquid slightly if you’d like a thicker drizzle.
✨ Garnish and Finish
Drizzle with rose tulsi–mandarin syrup
Garnish with toasted coconut, soaked dates, or pistachios
Add a dollop of almond or coconut yogurt
Sprinkle with rose petals or mandarin zest
Serve warm. Offer a quiet blessing before you eat.
🌿 Closing Blessing
May you receive this moment as an invitation to nourish yourself from the inside out
with food, yes, but also with the warmth of oil on your skin,
the stillness of meditation, the resonance of mantra,
the sweetness of music or chanting,
or whatever healing form your inner being is calling for.
This is the time of year to tend the deeper tissues.
To nourish not just body, but heart. Not just mind, but soul.
To rest in the arms of Shakti, and be sung back into wholeness.
Annapurna Devi watching over the Heart Kitchen
