Happiness Archives - Page 3 of 4 - Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Healthy Gingerbread Cookie + Balancing Kapha Mind

I planted a healthy gingerbread cookie tree on this Silpat baking sheet. Recipe below ⤵️

Healthy gingerbread cookie trees are rare, and even this time of year when everyone is talking about lighting the Christmas trees.🌲

Easy Chai Oat Gingerbread Cookie

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour (with oats)
1 ¹⁄₂ tsp baking powder
³⁄₄ tsp teaspoon baking soda
¹⁄₄ tsp teaspoon salt
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 ³⁄₄ teaspoons ground cinnamon
¹⁄₄ teaspoon ground cloves (or 1/2 tsp of allspice if that's what you have on hand)
6 tbsp unsalted butter (or substitute with 1 TBSP coconut oil)
3/4 cup dark brown sugar (reduce to 1/3 cup for less sugar and still have a delicious and nice cookie!)
1 large egg
1/2 cup molasses
1/4 cup oats

Instructions

In a large bowl, add dry and wet ingredients.
Melt coconut oil add to bowl.
Roll out cookie dough to about 1/8" to 1/4" cookies.
Bake on 350°F for about 10-12 minutes.

I share the traditional old-fashioned recipe (below) that I’ve been using FOR-ever and that I spiced up even more this year! XOXO

Every year is a ‘lil different, and as a creator, I like to challenge myself to make new creations and not stick with the same cookie cutter ones over and over again… haha. As a healthy recipe developer, that means evolving into even healthier bakes.

And this helps me so that I keep outta Kapha imbalances in the kitchen. Btw, the level of Kapha dosha is relative to each of our bodies, but eating healthy, balanced meals always helps to prevent trouble down the road…

Which is part of the natural order that this life is… it’s not a matter of if… it’s a matter of when. And you can stay on the healthy side starting with body-mind awareness.

One of the symptom intersections is your feelings that constantly shift. They help guide you, and other times steer you down a rabbit hole.

And if you want to stay feeling peaceful, joyful, and happy (and be productive) all the time (…like when I’m relaxed baking healthy gingerbread cookies), then keeping the Kapha mind balanced is important.

Some examples of what will make the difference are your steadfastness to boundaries. And your commitment to yourself and to others involved. And finally, plowing through and making it easy on yourself in everyday situations that come up.

And that all starts in the mind.

So… when negative thoughts enter, dismiss them by replacing them.

The problem for many people is they don’t even know when they’re getting pulled down by negative information and thoughts…well, because that’s their mind.

And we don’t naturally challenge our own thoughts. That’s not something we’re born knowing how to do.

What most of do learn is how to challenge other people’s thoughts and opinions. Sound familiar?

Especially this time of year when it’s easy for stress to settle in trying to get end-of-year goals accomplished and fit into holiday-hoopla 🎉 that can be overwhelming for the mind-body. And not always bring out the best in us.

Our mind-body is connected in such a way that if you have a Kapha mind where you’re stuck in negative strongholds, feeling lazy, or find yourself accumulating clutter, that can easily turn into a couch potato Kapha body imbalance.

One easier way to know if a Kapha imbalance is causing our negative moods is if we’re feeling depressed or withdrawing from certain activities we’re usually drawn to or have been in the past.

And as we know, the ego tries to fool us, so to outwit we have to be doubly smart, pausing before reacting and making wise choices that influence our day.

Those stubborn Kapha mind mood tendencies can linger. But if you know what to do, you can get out of excessive Kapha faster and into feeling good. And erase hovering dark clouds that can easily become your weekend. Or gradually settle in for a season if you’re not careful.

But we can change this pretty easily one choice at a time…

We can turn off the external negative messages and listen to more uplifting ones. And that includes shutting off the news after getting the accumulated hour-or-so daily scoop.

This subtle shift helps for subtle situations…

For example, you could be having a bad morning where everything seems to go wrong and deciding in your mind that it’s going to be a bad day since the start was rough.

But by allowing uplifting thoughts to enter in to influence the rest of your day or lean into gratitude for what you DO have, that will help brighten your perspective that becomes self-fulfilling.

I know that can sound pollyanna-ish, and is not always easy if you’re in a miserable situation like a job you hate, or a living situation or relationship that isn’t working out.

BUT, you can better program your mind to work for you. If we can walk and chew gum and think thoughts at the same time, then we can do this! We are capable.💪

One way we can help ourselves is having a consistent activity where we’re learning and improving. That takes the focus off of our thoughts. You may already do this.

In the activity that calls you, you don’t want to miss a moment in what you’re doing. This improves your skills and helps your head game. You then look forward to the activity in your day that helps your entire day.

And something else you can easily do…

Change your environment. Maybe you start doing your activity in a warm, sunny spot. That can be outside. These days, there are no limits to where you can work or catch a break as we’re a virtually remote society that can access anything anywhere.

As a Vata, I like to mix up where I work. I use a desk, a closet, outdoors… it just depends on my mood. And that’s how I get things done productively: I change my scenery options.

And maybe that’s you… or you like the same zone you always are in as that’s your designated spot. And if that’s you, then maybe having a photo or a reminder of something to look forward to in the future like some R&R or an adventurous trip, will also help.

And if holiday overwhelm is taking over these days, let the reason for the season keep you grounded. Let Scripture verses provide comfort and wisdom, and help guide you.

And stay cozy warm uplifted and listen to cheery Christmas music 🎼and jingles… and better yet find your creative outlet. Get into your groove.

For me, this last weekend was partially about creating healthy gingerbread cookie dough.

And a Chai Oat healthy gingerbread cookie was on tall order to provide more holiday baking inspiration that’s both healthy and happy.

I wasn’t the only one as the Cookie Wars marathon was all over the media networks. And gingerbread was one of the themes like every year… it’s nice to be able to count on some things!

healthy gingerbread cookie

And I’ve been using the same base recipe that’s more happy than healthy.

This original recipe has been with me since 2004 when I printed it out. It was adapted from a Joy of Cooking recipe.

And I’ve been tweaking it up every year.

And backing up, decades ago, it was common to use shortening for cookies and Southern sweets, so finding a butter recipe with 3 grams of fat per cookie was a big deal because that’s what people cared about (the fat in calories). These days, we know there are healthier fats we can use to bake with…

So, I’ve evolved this once-a-year December recipe using coconut oil to give a nice consistency and dough to work with.

Ahh… an early winter healthy gingerbread cookie tree!

I added my notes in ( ) and below to my enhancements to this collaborative recipe. 😊

Easy Chai Gingerbread Cookies

3 cups all-purpose flour (add oats)

1 ¹⁄₂ teaspoons baking powder

³⁄₄ teaspoon baking soda

¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon ground ginger

1 ³⁄₄ teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4 cup oats (optional)

¹⁄₄ teaspoon ground cloves (or 1/2 tsp of allspice if that’s what you have on hand)

6 tablespoons unsalted butter (substitute with 1 TBSP coconut oil)

³⁄₄ cup dark brown sugar (reduce to 1/3 cup for less sugar and still have a delicious and nice cookie!)

1 large egg

¹⁄₂ cup molasses

You can mix this all in one bowl. I like to bake on 325°F because cookies bake quickly. This’ll be about 15 minutes but it’s good to watch the oven.

Mindfulness Over Ego For Your Happiness

Mindfulness is awareness. And it’s on the path to your happiness.

Have you ever had a bad dream that set you off for the day?

That’s how I felt early on over the weekend. Despite the dream, I ended the day well in mindfulness with a sweet 2021 Netflix movie, Long Story Short (have you seen it?).

The witty romantic comedy movie has good meaning about appreciating your life and those around you, just in case you’re looking for an uplifting movie. 🎬

But back to where I was…

Before I got to the pillow that same night, most of the day I felt irritated.

The ego in my mind was trying to get the better of me and steal my happiness.

You may know, the unhealthy ego wants to take over you and spin lies in your head (and it tries to make you believe in your mind that anyone who believes that is full of nonsense, in case you’re not aware of your ego just yet).

You can look at a behaving ego as a separate channel that you frequent when you need a healthy dose of self-esteem or a boost of productive motivation.

But most of the time you want to stay clear and reject fiery-ignited ego thoughts running in your background, as its destructive power can get you in a hot mess at its worse.

Like it can be a wildcard as it showed up at this year’s live Oscars where anything can happen.

Or it can leave a bad mood when it’s mild (like I had). And it can show up as an Imposter, and make you think (and made me think): “I’m not enough.”

It will lead you and your life for as long as you’re still under its spell.

I share because I think it helps to know.

And it happens if you’re not carefully aware and just letting thoughts run their course. The way a lot of innocently unaware people operate. And that’s how I used to operate.

But now knowing better, I still had this mood that tried to damage my self-esteem and derail me from being productive.

The robbing ego thoughts just kept at it… so I didn’t write for a day at all as I thought it would be disingenuous writing in this feeling “not enough” Imposter-minded state. And even though I’ve contributed to hundreds of articles and publications, some on Apple news feed with millions of monthly views.

…So what did I do instead? I turned the news on and was humbled in empathy by the sad world news happenings going on.

That lasted a few hours and then the ego gremlins came back, and again I was wrestling with a sour mood.

Par for ego’s course, it even tried to block my taking steps to reach for the healthy restoring Ayurvedic lifestyle things I know to do. Like the ones that work to stop the body from further irritation and moods.

Ego keeps you from taking productive action and even wanting to pray. It detests the idea of mindfulness because then it dies.

And it skips over words and activities that would help you. It wants to keep you down.

This sounds severe, but the reality is this is how a lot of people are these days in brain fog and not knowing what to do (if anything).

It’s hard to snap out of moods immediately, even with an evolved mind like I believe I have now. Plus, it was a sunny day outside. 😊

Specifically, I was hit with that lazy thinking-feeling. You know that mood when you don’t want to do something. But you know if you do, you’ll come out better.

So then I took another step. I could only sit on the couch for so long. I broke out of following my ego-driven thoughts into managed thoughts and read a few paragraphs from A New Earth, a self-help ego book.

That book only makes sense to me now. But years ago it didn’t when I was still processing Eckart Tolle’s earlier book: The Power of Now. A great read by the way.

I align those book lessons to Scripture verses like “do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

See, years ago I learned that ego conveniently stands for Edging God Out, but back then hadn’t connected the dots fully.

Those days, seeing out from the lens of ego, I showed up in pride typical of the area I lived in and did not see any regretful situations I was part of or needed to find forgiveness for. Even if they were just hurting me mostly.

Ego talk didn’t resonate with me back then because I was being played by my ego (and most people are with their ego in some way in their lives).

But not today for me. And not this recent time, where I wised up in mindfulness. That came from experience and wisdom even when I didn’t feel it just yet.

Sometimes it can take a day to take effect even when you’re conscious. But, a weekend was longer than I was willing to wait– not wanting to lose a day. 🌈

How To Get Ego Aware In Your Life (From Mindfulness)

Harmful ego shows up invisibly and doesn’t want you to know that your life could be so much better and those around you if the negative filter spin or misperceptions of reality was lifted. It loves being critical and skeptical.

It preys on the weak and vulnerable moments like when you’re too busy, had some kind of trigger, or have a bad dream as I had. The smallest things can set it off.

It’s not a person’s fault. It’s a fault in humans when it has gone bad.

Just remember, ego works its way in at any time, in any thought situation, and in anyone who has a mind.

And I think is the most powerful or dangerous weapon on the planet. That’s billions of us walking around with this running machinery.

Calling it out in the present moment awareness slows the motor. And eventually pulls the plug until it shows up again.

Awareness is the first line of defense.

And it’s in your ability and control to manage.

Finding a simple distraction can be a good way. Taking a walk or shower…

Or meal prepping as a mindfulness break can swing the pendulum back to productive or loving-thought moods. It doesn’t have to be complicated.

And if you believe the next day will be better, it will.

My Next Day…

That’s what happened to me the next day. I wrote in flow. It’s this same flow where the unhealthy ego leaves and creativity emerges. You’ve probably heard of this flow-business or experienced it before in your mindfulness passions or activities…

For me, that’s an hour of writing for what could’ve taken me all day or at least hours.

After the words flow through, it’s pretty much forgotten. That’s part of staying in mindfulness.

And if you’re ever considering writing a book…

That’s also one of the common reasons why it takes so long to publish (…and anyone who has, knows this).

The mind has already moved on to another new topic.

And it took me a year to read over my own work many times agreeing authentically again to the meaning of my flowed through written words, before publishing.

That’s my jam, but if writing isn’t yours, you have other usable, maybe even more fun skills, abilities, and talents. And you can use them productively today living your best for today.

And tomorrow you can question if there is something more important you could be doing in this life. Because in constant mindfulness, and wanting to not waste time, you’re going to live a better life.

Oh, and one final thought on this…

Chef Jose Andres came from being a comfortable foodie restaurant chef and evolved into a humanitarian World Central Kitchen founder.

He’s an example of using a healthy ego for good purposes.

And our healthy ego and pride can do that to motivate us to take the next steps and make good contributions through us in our daily lives.

For all of us, it’s where life leads each of us. And once in a while, reflecting back and being reminded of coincidences and memories to feed the healthy ego. Like I once worked as a marketing manager for a similar Spanish tapas restaurant a few blocks away from Chef Jose’s restaurants (those were the good food days 😋).

And ultimately, it’s not what we do but how we do it and who we become. Life’s a marathon, so don’t worry if you haven’t figured it (or most things) out. Choose to have a healthy mind and believe for good things to work out, and they will.

If you think this blog post was helpful, please share or grab the link and text it to someone else that would find it useful.

Happy Life Embraces Change

Happy life was something I always dreamt of. I never knew the ride would be so different like clouds.

As you get closer, the clouds change and along the journey you gain empowered happiness that changes your perspective.

Living a happy life today means leaning into change. But that wasn’t how it always was…

I learned the adaptable ropes mostly in the job roles I held. I started out as a planner.

I was more like a hard doll than a flexible Gumby as a toy visual.

I think doing corporate work is a good training ground for life, reality, and how to deal with tough situations that don’t require physical survival skills. But you do learn life skills.

These make you resilient and adaptable to change as you’re never fully in control.

No one in corporate really is the boss. Even the boss has a boss.

They could be customers or a Board. And once you get the hang of what you’re doing, something changes.

So leaning into change is the best thing you can do. It starts with changing your perspective on change.

Just knowing that what you’re temporarily going through will not last, helps.

Some things you wish would, but then some you’re glad didn’t. So it usually comes out in the wash.

But, our brains want us to focus on the negative stuff instead of positive thougthts. It’s our job to flip the switch for our happiness.

If you let your mind just wander to where it wants to go and stay, that’s where the unhappiness comes from.

It’s like when you want to leave an unhappy physical place and arrive at a better place (or the steps in between) to get to a better place.

The happiest place on earth is really inside you and your managed feelings that start from your thoughts.

…Not Disney Land or your favorite place in the world. If you’ve been around long enough or are a wise soul who has caught on, you know those changing feelings never last.

If and when you become change-nimble, you don’t hold onto the past or what could have been.

You let go and focus on today, but dream about tomorrow. And you use history and your past as good reminders, happy memories, and to recall your happy life.

And in your today situations, you learn what you can do. Sometimes it’s wait-and-see without active response, and sometimes it’s taking a step in a bold stance or in another direction.

You’re wise to use healthy internal discernment as a guide and rational facts as checks and balances.

We all get thrown curve balls at some point. We also get varying opinions and smartly we can know that even those you honor or look up to don’t always have the best advice.

I have found the easiest way to take the best advice is to give the same advice. And to make a radical bold shift in the way that makes sense, can require a whole new attitude.

That begins with a motivation to want to change even if you don’t know-how. You learn in the desire.

You start over like a kid wanting to learn how to take on a new challenge, adventuresome sport, or hobby. Learning to change your thoughts is not nearly as exciting.

But if you manage your thoughts, you’ll get to the activities you’re really good at a lot sooner and not spend years on time-wasting ones.

Say, for example, you want to stop blaming or criticizing so much but that’s not the way it is or has been.

So then you would find how to shift the situation so you become part of the solution. You seek change with peace and not tension as part of the goal. You do this by catching yourself and your thoughts.

This I believe is the truth to happiness and having a happy life.

When you learn how to jump straight to changing attitudes and perspectives, you bypass the messy middle… where even with best intentions, our brain design can get stuck there in the clouds.

And sometimes you may not even know your invisible perspectives. I had a victim mentality and lens I was operating from that I didn’t even know was there.

Only until I was aware and observed my thoughts, could I change that.

With awareness in any area, you move towards a happy life.

If nothing else, believe that a better world and your better, happy life is in the process.

Because your beliefs make up your perspectives and attitudes. With all three in alignment, you’re destined to be unstoppable.

That’s how I transformed a victim mentality into an abundant one.

And you can too, or any other area you become aware of that you want to change and transform.

From a caterpillar existence to your butterfly happy living. 🦋

Luck Inspiration Happy Thoughts For The Life You Want

Luck is part of our happy lives. You run into it more when you try more things and is more visible to you when you’re working toward finding your purpose.

I believe the way to happiness is in finding a daily purpose. Eventually, you’ll run into examples of happy luck on your journey even if you’ve never considered yourself lucky.

That’s what this blog post today is about. So if you’ve been feeling unlucky, stuck, or wondering about how to get more good luck, grab a drink and keep reading.

One immediate additon you can make is to add a new joyful daily practice that’s different than the previous ones that aren’t “the ONE.”

Finding that can create the outlet or space you need to drift into your best season.

Staying open to new possibilities is gonna help lead you there and out of disappointment from unmet expectations.

If you’re super busy, even finding 10 minutes a day will move you in a healthy way. You don’t have to produce anything yet.

You just want to get the energy juices flowing inside you, and develop an interest in the process.

It matters to YOU what that is and what you do, but it doesn’t matter what it is to get that energy.

It’s your thoughts and feelings at the end of the day that carries you through.

You can start by simply pulling out a few (or all the) supplies needed.

Say, your practice is something simple like yoga, then you’d roll out your yoga mat and pull out your stretchy clothes. And here are 100 yoga poses you can start with.

Or if it’s as complex as lace making, you’d bring out your threads and materials.

My recommend is to start spending a ‘lil time (gathering supplies or working on your practice) in your spare time while you’re watching television. It doesn’t have to be either/or… when you get moving, juices flow easier.

When you can visually see what you need to work on as a practice or hobby, that can become top-of-mind consciousness instead of: “out of sight, out of mind.”

You put your mind towards a purpose. It can feel like an anxious distraction or passion freedom.

You were born naturally to be active, just like horses and greyhounds are born to run.

As kids, we knew we wanted to play. Go back to your natural instinct roots and wonder and play in the adult way. You may even find yourself in your calm Alpha waves state of mind.

That’s what I thought about scrapbooking years ago, but then I lost interest. So don’t be surprised if you go through different activities to find “the one.”

Our world today is like a lotus flower opening and evolving. We didn’t know the internet would turn out the way it is today, when it first came out, but we got involved. And look at it now!

I’ve never been able to watch the Australian Open live stream until this year—and with open access, I was more aware, interested, and curious in another part of the world than where I live.

And used some of that time to bake. See how we can use the world around us to be more open (even if we can’t do it exactly the way we want)?

Your practice can become a daily passion or create new passion project ideas. You can be multi-passionate, but you’ll find one passion or interest eventually dominates and becomes more your purpose.

It’s the one giving life to others too that you can share or do life with.

In the beginning, the satisfied feeling for doing your passion can be there just to make you feel better about yourself (a good way to get self-care and not overspend!).

Your day will feel more joyful. You don’t need a deep reason as to why you’re doing it. When you feel happier, however that shows up for you, then you can show up more giving and creative.

Our ego sourly wants us to believe that everything has to turn into some kind of accomplishment that others praise and has to turn into a high achievement (or else why do it?).

Don’t fall for those lies. Tell your ego who’s boss at the moment.

The real gift or takeaway is in the process of showing up (you’ve probably heard a zillion times), improving your practice regularly, and loving what you’re doing more than the praise or the idea that you can succeed or fail.

Do it to be productive, and make it a natural desire to your life, like as the hunting dog wants to chase.

When you’ve worked on your practice long enough (often years), that can form into your purpose and lead you to additional productive purposes from what you’ve already learned.

You pay your dues with low paid or free work and time, and once you’ve proven to yourself that you’ll do this practice even if you’re not paid, then you’re unstoppable in your niche.

And you’ll be rewarded for taking a risk in being productive.

What you know is, you’re on the right track even if you see no immediate fruit.

One sign is you would’ve given up on it for something else a long time ago. Sometimes people quit, get busy or distracted, and then come back, that’s almost a sure sign you’re on the right track no matter how it looks to others.

That’s why I believe you should go for what you really want to do with your life (and forget about what looks good on paper) because you only get this one life to do (and there’s not a do-over for anyone).

And so, the importance of time can catch up with you where you crave a high quality of life, balance, health, and relationships… and possibly over money.

Maybe that’s where you are (or are headed in that direction)?

Figuring out what makes you needed to the world sooner will give you more time to do more of that.

In growth, we try not to go backward and when we stumble on luck, we know it’s our time to run and build on that momentum.

So then, what is luck?

It’s a simple four-letter word, but leaning into luck is going to propel you to better things.

If you haven’t already, it may be useful to write out all the places where you felt you got lucky.

Nothing is too small. Scoring a parking spot is luck. And the more you can find these examples in your life, the more luck takes healthy root in your life as you look for more.

It’s often understated and why one person works super hard and the door never opens, and one person who barely tried falls into luck. It isn’t earned. It’s you walking into and towards your destiny.

It’s what we sometimes refer to as “beginner’s luck.” When you pair that with persistence (never giving up) plus hard work, you’re virtually unstoppable.

Luck is invisible but always involved. It’s our ego that says, “it was our doing,” when it was a collaboration with those involved and the Universe all along.

Luck really is your alignment with your assignments and purpose. It’s lining you up for the right next opportunity at the perfect time. Luck isn’t random luck.

And if you choose to believe that, then you can wonder how to use your luck in your favor.

You can use it to find your purpose and the reason why you’re here.

Nothing goes wasted. Remember, it’s our (ego) minds that mess with us and want us to believe we’re our ego. Outsmarting your ego is good advice.

And what you are productively doing now (even if it’s not exciting) will move you to the next thing.

You will end up using all of your experiences, on this seemingly chaotic planet. But when you dig deeper, you can see how organized it is, in every blade of grass and life’s full circle moments.

If you had a season you didn’t like, those lessons you learned can help make you aware to not do the same mistakes again.

That can sometimes take two steps forward and one step backward. Staying patient with yourself but keep trying… and laughing at life once in a while helps!

And if this all seems new or foreign to you, don’t worry, that’s part of why you’re here, and when you’re ready, you’ll figure out what you need.

The sooner you do, the more you get to do what you want to do and get all the great gifts associated as long as you don’t quit working, dreaming, and wanting.

Gifts can be new relationships, opportunities, money, praise, promotion, etc.

If you don’t like your grueling day job or are dissatisfied with corporate life, then maybe you want to look at other avenues. Sure, some of your old communities and friends will drift away, but you’ll develop new ones just like when you finished school or when you moved to a new town.

One day, John Lennon just walked out of the room and that was the end of The Beatles band. In the peaceful flow, he didn’t cut off ties. He just pivoted. One day.

Suddenly. It doesn’t have to be dramatic or have an announcement made (others can do that without you).

In my life, I took a sabbatical when it wasn’t the norm and I had to explain what that was as it sounds like a religious or college-related quest.

Now people are rethinking and opting to do the same. Maybe that’s your next pivot move? Or trying something completely new. Just starting is the best advice I’ve ever heard.

Whatever that productive next step is for you, stay the course until something else takes over, and then you can expectantly watch as a new kind of luck emerges that you would’ve never seen had you not taken the first step.

It’s as simple and complicated as that. 😊

Christmas Cake in Happy July

Christmas cake is a buche de noel sponge cake that gets better when you pair with happy places.

…And who says it has to be made at Christmas?

In July, we’re in the swing of happy summer (like during the Christmas holiday) and can make our favorite desserts then.

You’ve probably heard of Christmas in July promotions and sales… a cake can be the same concept.

So in that spirit, here’s an easy sponge cake you can make.

The recipe I use is modified from a sponge cake in the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book.

And it’s cake that can be made anytime. It’s a happy new year 365-day cake to celebrate happy moments (and visit your daily inner happy place).

Christmas cake you can make in summer.

At home, baking is my jam and how I swiss roll decorated with sprinkles, plus vanilla-chai and chocolate-flavored for both tastes. I see the cocoa and Greek yogurt ingredients as both healthy and happy 🧡

This Christmas cake or Buche de Noel sponge cake rolls me into the mood to share my happy places on the planet besides home (and some are ranked happiest places and cities, so I know I’m not the only one 😊).

For Americans, “the happiest place on earth” to visit is Disney World: a place where you can find the dressed-up celebrity mouse and his wife waltzing about their world adding to people’s fantasy land dreams.

Overseas, I like to “doll up” in a grown up city like Copenhagen… it’s ranked as the happiest city in the world for its cobblestone-street charm and cool vibes on the water. I’m grateful I checked it off my list in 2018.

Every day is a photo postcard there:

It’s pretty magical and the culture embraces balance as a way of life. It’s in their calm and cool energy, taking time to slow down and not rush around.

Then if you head north to Bergen, Norway, you’re in happy central territory for trolls.

You know, the colorful ones like Poppy with her glitter-power and friends from the movie, Trolls.

It’s a different place where you may not be sure whether to laugh or give a puzzled look as you venture around.

The whole idea of trolls is wondrous and can make you curious about what exists out there? If nothing else, it’s fun to look at the indigenous troll trinkets like characters in Disney but with 4 fingers and toes.

Cute or not-so-cute is for you to decide

…Bergen is just a hop, skip, and a jump from little Norwegian towns surrounded by lush foliage and waterfalls. Occasionally you can see a cute roof, and wonder who lives in those dwellings like a Nordic scene from the EuroVision movie.

…And what do they eat? I’m into biodiverse eating, but in Norway, they have fresh fruits and similar protein categories that are also in our healthier Western diets. You may have heard of the Nordic Diet, one of the flavors in anti-inflammatory diets out there today.

One main difference is they use canola oil over a southern Mediterranean diet that uses EVOO (and is not a “diet”). Unlike fad or buzzy trending diets, these are based on the daily foods (what they eat) in an entire region in the world.

Like most cities, they have organic markets and local farmer’s markets with the freshest seasonal goods.

Here I saw some fresh lingonberries:

And plenty o’ wild salmon (where many restaurants source their catches) where you can make your own healthy fish and chips.

And moving away from the rural and into the City of Light life like in Emily in Paris, you can be in a new awe.

It’s a walking city.

Paris is a happy place to visit as there’s so much to see walking around and when you just wanna chill, you can stroll in the parks.

Another happy place to visit is the U.K. where there’s so much to see and do. And I’m enamored since The Great British Bake Off show full of baking tent fun and laughs.

Who knew there were flowers in the winter like these ones in Shakespeare’s Garden on the other side of the pond of…

Washington, D.C. which is where I lived and worked most my life.

You may know Washington, D.C. for the power-hungry, political society. But that’s only a part of the area.

You can relax and take a leisurely kayak or canoe on the Potomac River or take a scenic drive along to see the monument skyline.

There’s plenty of American history to discover as it’s the place where Presidents temporarily live during office. And was permanent home to the first President, George Washington. Plus so much more interesting history on the downtown mall.

Then when you’ve seen enough of the historical buildings, you can fly south (like birds that still migrate) to a slower pace.

One happy getaway is…

Clearwater, Florida.

Hope and Winter from The Dolphin Tale movie lived there. Dolphins are happy mammals, so that should tell you something 🐬

On vacay, you don’t feel the hustle and bustle from the city with slow driving cars, less stress on the streets, and fewer tourists. It has a tropical vibe like a pina colada smoothie you can sip on watching the Florida palm trees swaying and beautiful sunsets.

The Gulf is known for fresh fish catches like fresh grouper, so a fishmonger can bring it to you cooked fresh from the boat.

So those are the happy places I can drop a pin on📍(plus one when I’m making the Christmas cake (aka Buche de Noel sponge swiss cake 😋).

Buche de Noel Sponge Cake

Modified recipe from the "Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book"

Equipment

Silpat and baking pan
tea towel

Ingredients

3 eggs
1/4 cup pineapple juice
2/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup monk fruit sugar
jam and yogurt of choice (for filling)

Instructions

Separate eggs. Tip: It's easier to separate eggs when they are cold from the fridge. Then let them warm up to room temperature.
Beat egg yolks in a regular size bowl and add juice and baking powder.
Separately beat egg whites in a larger mixing bowl. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. The small amount of sugar will help bring the texture together.
After step 3, gently pour egg yolks into egg white bowl. Gently fold in egg whites to combine yolks. Don't mix or overmix as that will deflate the egg white air which is the reason why the egg white was separated from the eggyolk in the first place. This will give a higher rising sponge cake.
Spread on a Silpat lined baking pan about 3/4" thick or the size of your yule log you would like. Bake on 325°F for about 45 minutes or longer (mostly depending on actual thickness). Pull out of oven before sides start to brown.
While warm-hot out of the oven, pull out cake and roll up into a tea towel like a sleeping bag to get the "swirl." You want to make sure to do this while it's warm or it will break when cool.
Let cool and when cool, cut off ends. Add a layer of jam or yogurt that you want inside.
Pour melted chocolate over the cake and after cooled, drag a fork around the glaze for a yule-log effect.