WITH SOUL
Happy Monday, everyone.
I’d like to open this newsletter today with a thank you. The amount of e-mails I received after the last post was uplifting and I appreciate that you not only read this, but it resonates with you.
Last week was a heavy week in my world. It’s a part of life we have to face but it doesn’t make it any less sad to manage. Life has a funny way of handing you what you need, but perhaps not in the form you wanted it. If life lessons were amazon packages, sometimes they arrive pretty on your door, and sometimes the box looks like it went through the wringer. This week, my life lessons arrived in a box that was lit on fire before being placed on my porch. Fortunately, I had an extinguisher nearby.
Here we are, on a sunday night and I want to leave my scorched box in the previous week. Yes, I focused on the fact that I was hurt this week in multiple forms for much of my day. I processed why it bothered me, how deep the pain went, and thought about how this will shift my final season 2022.
And, after a few hours of putting my phone down and just sleeping/zoning out, I realized that as dark as parts of my life were these past ten days or so (seriously, the comical highlight of the last ten days was when I was cleaning out a closet and found ashes. We’re calling it Finding Fred and you have to laugh, tbh) there were a lot of peaks.
The moment I started focusing on the light, my mood started lifting. The power of our mindset truly showing its’ strength. This week, I want us all to focus on finding the light. Life is difficult and we’re challenged daily. Whether it’s at work, in our personal lives, our families or in relationships with ourselves. We are each carrying something we chose not to share: something that weighs on us. But, if we shed light on our worlds, if we find those little moments of joy, we begin to brighten up the dark. The more moments we find to shift our focus on, the less dark our burdens will be. This week, my goal is to encourage you to micro shift your thoughts to the light… even if it’s so simple.
Here is some of my favorite, positive moments of the week:
I am weirdly comforted by the fact that my grandpas ashes (Finding Fred) are with Emmett’s. It has inspired this short story I can’t wait to finalize. I know this isn’t his final resting place wishes, but it’s nice having his spirit around until I figure out how to get him to Coney Island.
I am going to enter NanoWriMo. For those who don’t know, it’s a writing challenge throughout the month of November where your goal is to write a little over 1,000 words a day to complete your novel. Fun fact, I’ve never completed it. Usually, what happens is I get overwhelmed by my story and give up. I’m kind of tired of giving up, so my thought process is to use this space to share excerpts. Fingers crossed.
I spent Friday with my best friend and her daughter. Seriously, kids are always a serotonin boost. And, the way my niece recognizes me just melts my cold heart.
I spent Saturday with my sister in laws sans boyfriend; he was sick but I decided to still go to the party and even though my introverted self was nervous, I ended up having a great time.
I became an Ambassador for Darling Society, part of Darling Magazine. I’m excited to be part of a new community and am looking forward to connecting with new people.
I had a great two days upstate in my favorite place. Watching the leaves change and slowly fall reminded me that life will always continue to move forward.
Marco got annoyed at a squirrel today for escaping under the fence, not through the trees. So, he sat in the spot where the squirrel escaped for 45 minutes, waiting for its return. His idiosyncrasies make me giggle, even at 10:30 PM when he remembers he left a bone outside and needs it right away.
A white lily bloomed on my peace lily plant. Which hasn’t happened since Emmett died so it was a nice surprise.
In a few hours, you’re going to receive an e-mail from me encouraging you to share something that brings you light. Mondays are hard; they usually mean entering our work world after a few days of recharging. But, this Monday, let’s enter it with the best mindset and focus on those little moments that bring you joy: even if they’re weird like finding your grandpas ashes and thinking his soul is taking in his new surroundings (seriously, I can hear him saying “Jesus Christ. Who left me in there?!” and then complaining that Emmett won’t stop dropping a ball at his feet.)
The more light we find, the less dark the world feels.
Oh, and Happy Halloween. It is not my favorite holiday, despite being a dark and moody girly. I do like tomorrow though- the Spanish tradition of honoring the souls of the one we love is why I am so obsessed with Isabel Allende books.
WITH SALT
I absolutely love making homemade pizzas, and this weeks “With Salt” is an easy homemade pizza that packs a lot of punch. As always, my measurements are in shakes and pinches. Remember, cooking doesn’t have to be methodical; it’s okay to just wing it a little.
INGREDIENTS:
red pepper flakes
pizza dough
chicken sausage
honey
parmesan cheese
fresh mozzarella
prosciutto
olive oil
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
BIG PRO TIP, YO: MAKE SURE YOUR DOUGH IS AT ROOM TEMPERATURE.
Preheat your oven to 425. While it’s preheating, put your chicken sausage in the oven and let it cook while it’s heating up. The sausage will cook again on the pizza but this is a cook way to make sure it’s at least half way there.
While the oven is preheating, put the pan you plan on baking the dough on and put it the oven to warm it up. Then, take your room temperature dough, sprinkle it with some flour and roll it out. Don’t have a rolling pin? No problem, grab that empty bottle of wine from last night- it does the trick just fine.
Pull the heated pan out of the oven, rub it down with some olive oil and put your dough on the pan. Take the loose ends and roll it to make your crust. (editors note; if you’re fancy and have a pizza stone, obviously use that. I don’t have a pizza stone and use a cookie pan and it’s all the same) Rub the top of the dough with olive oil and then sprinkle it with some red pepper flakes.
Pop the dough in the oven for 10 minutes to let it get a little toasty. Then, pull your chicken sausage out, slice it up thinly and put it in a bowl. In the same bowl, put about a tablespoon of olive oil, a tablespoon of honey, two shakes of red pepper, two shakes of salt, two shakes of garlic and toss it around. You really want to season the topping and let it marinate. Then, take your prosciutto and lay it on out on a cookie sheet.
Pull your dough out of the oven. Lay out your sliced mozzarella on the dough, then add in your chicken sausage topping. Sprinkle with a little more parmesan because, cheese, and put it in the oven. Bake it for 20 minutes.
On the bottom rack, pop your prosciutto sheet on there and bake for 10 minutes.
When the timer is up on the prosciutto, let it cool for a few minutes and then dice up that crunchiness. Pull your pizza and sprinkle the prosciutto on top. Boom, slice it up and enjoy :)
If you make this dish, or really any dish I share, make sure to tag @salt.withsoul on instagram :)
I can’t wait to see what brings you light :)