Welcome to Nadine's blog
Updated: May 22, 2020
Hello, this is my blog. It's my way of connecting with you, talking to you, having fun with you and of creating a posse, a community of like minded food nuts! Perhaps we will be colleagues, perhaps we will become friends. After nearly 40 years of creating vegetarian recipes, I think it's about time I reached out to you. I tend to hide, to go it alone, to run away into private musings and wistful fantasies. For all that I've longed for connection, other people who share my dreams, my default position has always been that of the lone player. The thought of being so publicly visible has been quite frankly terrifying. I am far too self critical to take lightly to scrutiny. When all those years ago, I was writing my books, there was a distance between me and you that kept me "safe". Once, a few years ago, I started a blog and within seconds of the first post, some high profile entities commented (as it happens positively) and I realised just how public this forum is. It sent me literally running for the hills. But the years have passed, it's become the norm, every day I communicate on Instagram. In fact, I've come to genuinely appreciate the contact, the comments, the love. So here I am again. This time I make a commitment to you: I'll stick around, I'll add a post once a week, natter and yabber and play with (my) food. I hope you'll join me. I hope we have an interesting, inspiring, intimate conversation. I hope we learn from each other.
I'll be primarily talking recipes, retreats, workshops. I have other passions too: interiors, flowers, fashion (or at least, clothes) and if it doesn't seem an incongruous addition to the mix, I have been meditating since I was 19 years old, so not to include this would feel incomplete. For many years, I felt I needed to justify my passions for one with my love for the other. But we seem to have entered a time where it is all the better to integrate and live all aspects of ourselves and our time on planet earth. Perhaps it is the recognition of the fragility of our eco system that gives so many of us this sense of urgency. I write this in Paris, 4 weeks into Covid 19 lockdown. So far, I've only had a couple of days of fear and panic and they were about the sudden realisation that I may indeed reach the end of my days without having expressed all that there is in me to express. I was filled with with sadness and then with redoubled energy. So here I am. Hello.
My first thought about discovering tea through taste and preparation is that the everyday experience deserves as much attention as the larger explanation. Changing one preparation detail at a time can make differences easier to notice. It also gives the phrase tea preparation basics a clearer meaning than a label on its own. The part I would like to explore further is what happens when the idea meets a real situation with its own limitations. What would you record when comparing two ways of preparing the same tea?
What interests me about discussing values through historical biographies is how a broad idea becomes part of an ordinary day. A person's choices can help learners discuss values in a particular historical setting. For me, that is a useful way into the broader subject of historical biography education. I can imagine different answers depending on the situation, so I would want to understand the context before drawing conclusions. How can a biography lesson connect context with questions students recognise today?
A conversation about exploring academic learning and research skills seems most useful to me when it leaves space for uncertainty and further questions. A precise question can make finding and comparing sources more manageable. I would use that point as a starting question when considering academic research skills. A short discussion of an everyday example would make this easier for me to connect with, especially as someone still learning about the subject. How would you narrow a broad interest into a question suitable for a small research project?
The subject of exploring learning through shared interests feels more interesting when there is room for a reader to stop and ask their own questions. A shared interest can give a group a reason to exchange explanations and examples. Seen this way, collaborative learning interests becomes a topic to explore rather than something to sum up too quickly. The part I would like to explore further is what happens when the idea meets a real situation with its own limitations. How can a learning group welcome beginners alongside more experienced participants?
I find planning an academic writing project easier to think about when there is a concrete question to start from. A clear outline can reveal gaps before a writer invests time in full paragraphs. That connection helps me see why academic writing planning can be worth a closer look. I would probably come back to this question after trying to work through one concrete example rather than deciding immediately. How do you decide whether a section supports the main question or merely adds background?