Love hurts

I have a several lady friends who are young enough to be my daughters. When they faced problems in their relationships with their partners, they have often come to me and poured their hearts out . Perhaps, they felt safe to confide in me because they knew I would not judge them. Very often, I have urged them to read this beautiful poem about love by Kahlil Gibran and try to begin to understand what love is all about. It is one of several poems my Quay Lo has introduced me to. From my first reading of it I felt that if we can gain an understanding of this passage: "love crowns you... so shall he crucify you", perhaps we will not be so surprised when love brings pain. We may even be able to blunt that pain with wisdom, understanding, and when neccessary, forgiveness. I hope you might see what I mean when you read the following.

On Love

(From "The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran)

When love beckons to you, follow him,

Though his ways are hard and steep.

And when his wings enfold you yield to him,

Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.

And when he speaks to you believe in him,

Though his voice may shatter your dreams

as the north wind lays waste the garden.

For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.

Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,

So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.

Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.

He threshes you to make you naked.

He sifts you to free you from your husks.

He grinds you to whiteness.

He kneads you until you are pliant;

And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God's sacred feast.

All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life's heart.

But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure,

Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor,

Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.

Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.

Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;

For love is sufficient unto love.

When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart," but rather, "I am in the heart of God."

And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.

Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.

But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:

To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.

To know the pain of too much tenderness.

To be wounded by your own understanding of love;

And to bleed willingly and joyfully.

To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;

To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;

To return home at eventide with gratitude;

And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips

Today is Valentine’s day, a day which we have always celebrated every year. It is a very SPECIAL day for Quay Lo and I. We declared our love for each other on this day 16 years ago.

To celebrate our love, I started the day by giving my Quay Lo a Valentine’s gift at 1.45 a.m. in the morning. I bought him a new music player for use with the ipod and iphone. Yesterday I was busy loading his complete music library into the ipod. Just before bed time, I turned on the player so that when he walked into the bed room last night he would notice it immediately. He has always loved to have some music on at bedtime and takes great care to prepare elaborate playlists for relaxation. However, a few weeks ago his favorite ear phones quit working. 

When it came time to retire for bed he hung back saying he wanted to do a final email check and see the stock prices before retiring. I went ahead upstairs and waited. Almost 30 minutes later I had to go back downstairs to urge him to come to bed. As I had guessed, he was absorbed in his work, but a gentle nudge was all he needed to switch off the lamp and the computer.  When we got upstairs it was a BIG SURPRISE for him!  He was so pleased and he loved the player. He kept saying it was SO COOL! and WOW!! What a nice feeling for me to hear him say that and see his obvious delight. To my Quay Lo music is the salve that soothes a man's soul. (Well, maybe that and a good meal.)

Today I knew my Quay Lo would not want a heavy lunch because he has plans to take me to a nice romantic dinner at our favorite French restaurant in the city this evening. So, I made a simple brunch for him - home made grilled pork burger, with egg and cheese on ciabatta sandwiches. What do you think?

Heart shape sandwich

Ingredients:

2 pcs ciabatta bread (cut into different size heart shape)

4 pcs of cheddar cheese (cut into different size heart shapes)

lettuce

2 eggs for frying (stir with a fork and fry flat, over medium)

cherry tomatoes

mayonnaise

salt and pepper to taste

pork burger

For the pork burger:

10 ounces hand chopped pork shoulder
2 tbsp duck fat
1 tbspn finely chopped spring onion
1 tbspn finely chopped fresh coriander
2 tbspns finely chopped fennel bulb
1/4 tspn chili powder
1/4 tspn ground carraway seeds
ground black pepper and salt to taste
1 raw egg, stirred with a fork

Mix ingredients in a bowl by hand until all are well distributed throughout, cover bowl with cling wrap, and place in the fridge for thirty minutes.

Remove from fridge and make patties to the desired size.

Heat duck fat in skillet over medium flame and fry until the meat is slightly pink inside. Turn down heat to low and place slices of cheese on each pattie. When cheese just starts to melt remove patties to a plate topped with paper towels to drain. Cover with aluminum foil. Prepare grilled ciabbata bread and assemble sandwiches. Serve with stone ground corn chips, cole slaw, sweet gherkins, and an ice cold beer (tip: place beer glasses in the freezer for 5 minutes before pouring the beer.)
Serves two 

Though quite simple  to make this is one of my guy's  favorites. He literally moans with pleasure as he bites into the sandwich, LOL.

Hope you too will be having a wonderful and memorable Valentine's Day and remember -

"Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;

For love is sufficient unto love"

I'm submitting for Valentine Hearts: Heart-shaped dishes for Valentine's Day!

Ciabatta pizza and the Half Chinese Quay Lo

This is actually a recipe that I never thought of blogging but my Quay Lo said I should share this with my readers and my blogger friends because he said the ciabatta pizza is very delicious.  He thought my fusion pomodoro sauce was very tasty and can be used as a sauce for many other dishes like pasta dishes, seafood, or even poultry and meat.  I told him an Italian chef would ban me for adding sambal belachan to the pomodoro sauce and using it with Italian cuisine.  LOL! 

Well, I thought that the sauce would definitely appeal to the Asian palate more than the Western, but then my Quay Lo disagreed. He thinks Westerners will like it too. He pointed out that the dried shrimp is rather like anchovies, with the same flavor boosting quality. He also pointed out that many Westerners like chili, and spicy dishes. I did not argue with him but quietly I said to myself,  you are already half Chinese so you should not be so sure about that.  This reminded me of what our Hong Kong Chinese friend said about my Quay Lo many years ago, after uttering something not so nice about Quay Los in general.  He said that Quay Los are very calculative people, especially Americans, because when it comes to paying for any food bills, they will pay for their share only and seldom insist on paying the whole bill. Then he quickly added "Your Quay Lo is different, he is already half Chinese.”  Of course, this was after his wife kicked him under the table. Maybe he also quickly remembered that my husband and I were hosting the lavish dinner we were in the midst of at the time. But, honestly I think he felt free to speak openly, and was at ease with us, and only afterwards realized he was at risk of being misunderstood. I would not disagree with his assessment that my Quay Lo is half Chinese though, because as much as my Quay Lo teases me for being “Chintzy” ( e.g. for saving up nice wrapping paper or plastic ice cream tubs or bargaining for the best price for my purchases, etc.) , I find that he has picked up quite a lot of my “Chintzyness” lately. I half suspect that one reason he likes these quick and easy half pizza/half sandwiches is that they are far easier on the budget than sending out for pizza delivered. Of course, they are delicious also. No wonder he said to me the other day “Lucy, you are a great trainer.” WOW!

Ciabatta pizza

Ingredients:

2 ciabatta bread, halved

1 boneless chicken breast, poached in chicken stock and roughly shredded

½ C black olive, thinly sliced

1 C sliced mushroom, sautéed in butter

2 C mozzarella grated cheese

1 C pamersan grated cheese
1 sun dried tomato, thinly sliced

fusion tomato base sauce (please see recipe below)

Method for assembling the pizza:

Lay the bread on the baking pan. Layer with fusion tomato base sauce, the amount is up to individual preference.  Add a layer of mozzarella cheese. Add chicken meat, black olive and mushroom. Topped with parmesan cheese. Bake at 220 degrees C for 20 mins or till cheese are melted and slightly brown.

Fusion pomodoro sauce

Ingredients:

(A)

2 tbs olive oil or butter as preferred

6 roma plum tomatoes, cut into small pieces

1 medium onion, chopped

5  bibs garlic, cut into thin sliced

2 tbs chopped parsley

1 C basil leaves

1 tin 6 oz. plum tomatoes

2 tbs tomato paste

(B)

1 tsp kosher salt (adjust to individual taste)

1 tsp sugar (adjust to individual taste)

½ tsp ground black pepper

2 level tsp sambal belachan (click here for recipe) (optional)

2 tsp Maggie chicken stock (without MSG, adjust to individual taste)

Method to prepare the sauce:

Heat olive oil or butter in pan.  Add chopped onion and stir fry till slightly translucent and add sliced garlic. Stir fry till fragrant. Add cut tomatoes, parsley and basil leaves and mixed well with onion and garlic. When the tomatoes become a little soft, add the tin of plum tomatoes and break them up with your ladle. Add (B) and turn down heat to low and let it simmer for 30 mins.  


You can save the balance of the sauce to about a week for future use.


I shared this recipe at Miz Helen's Country Cottage - Full Plate Thursday.