What a treat returning home after a lovely Autumnal walk into a house rich with the aroma of a hearty dinner… Let the oven do most of the work on this one, an easy to prepare stew, full of flavour. And beer 😮Continue Reading
Choose the right path and just keep walking
If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking,
 eventually you’ll make progress. – Obama
Well, there’s a quote that I identify with! I have an absolute faith in our ability to know, deep down, the right path for us. And an equal faith in our ability to lose the plot, act like muppets and bury that wisdom under piles of Daily Stuff.
For me the answer to this endearing human feature lies not in Getting Brilliant at Dealing with Lots of Stuff. The answer lies in taking a walk, slowing ourselves enough so we can hear our own voice.
I love every aspect of mountains, walking and navigating, and it’s not just the literal act of walking: I find the parallels between how we walk in nature and how we find our way in life to be a very natural source of inspiration and insight. How about you?
Here’s some of the thoughts this particular quote inspired for me:
1)     If you’re walking down the right path: Taking time to identify, find or create the right path is the IMPORTANT bit, make time for it! Otherwise you’ll make steady progress towards something you don’t particularly want, which is a bit of a bugger.
How you define, “right path” is also important. How much of its “rightness” is because it’s what others need from you? How much is it “right” because it’s what you feel you were born to do? How much is because it’s where you have the most fun?
2)Â Â Â Â Â And you’re willing to… Being willing is a good sign that you’re on the right path I reckon: you see yourself choosing to do whatever you need to do to follow the path. So if you’re not willing, what’s that about? It’s likely to be important and worth attending to.
3)    … keep walking Even if you feel you’re not getting very far, every little nudge forwards is taking you along the route you’ve chosen. Be proud of the days when you whoosh. And proud of the days where you see only a teeny bit of progress: Frankly, facing forwards on those days is an achievement in itself.
4)     Eventually…: Get to know the speed that you are able to move at. If it’s slower than you expected, might it be your expectation that is off, not your speed? You wouldn’t be being a teeny bit judgemental of yourself, would you??
5)Â Â Â Â Â … you’ll make progress: If you take even one step, you have made progress. If you keep taking the next step you will eventually reach the next place on your path that you want to reach. And it is YOU that makes progress. Others can help you, support you, bring out your strengths but the progress ultimately comes from the steps you take and your choice to keep walking your right path.
6)Â Â Â You’re walking, not running! Epic days are exciting and you cover a lot of ground. Attempting to make every day an Epic Day may be unwise, donut!
7)   Breathers: Ok, it’s not explicitly in the quote, but remember to pause every now and again too – look around, realise how far you’ve come, refresh yourself, feed yourself, rest – nurture body, mind and soul. That’s an essential part of your progress too, or else you’ll go phut (*).
8 )   Company: Er, this isn’t mentioned either. Never mind. It’s your path, only you can travel it. But you can choose company that adds to your enjoyment of the path and do nice things like chat, laugh, inspire and share cake.
9)Â Â Â Â Â Keep Walking: Your path will always continue. It never ends. Keep walking!
So what do you identify with? What will you remind yourself to do more of?
Choose the right path for you, and keep walking!
Sarah xx
(*) Phut (technical term): To run out of steam physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually. Or all four, which is really not nice at all. Brought about by moving too fast, seeking too many Epic Days or ignoring your need for breathers, company and/or any other form of support.
Mountain Retreat holidays with cake, coaching, walks, massage
and plenty of space to find the right path for you.
Beer Can Chicken
If you can get over how funny this looks (or weird / wrong depending on your perspective!), this is a fab recipe for delicious, tender chicken: Crispy on the outside, flavoursome and moist on the inside, the beer can turns a simple roast into a bit of a feature with very little effort on your part. My thanks to the lovely Felin Fach Griffin near Hay-on-Wye, for the inspiration, tips and encouragement to try this recipe out!
Beer Can Chicken (Serves 6+)
One large chicken ~ 2.2 kg
One can of beer (with no plastic widget thingy)
1 tsp mixed herbs
Salt & Pepper
Small knob of beef dripping
This is a very simple recipe. I particularly like the second step… :
Mix the herbs, salt and pepper together and rub over the chicken.
Open your beer. Drink half. Yes, drink, share or otherwise use half of that beer.
Place the beer can on a roasting tin and, with whatever comments you feel are appropriate, sit the chicken onto the can so that about half the can is inside the chicken. (You need a bit of gap inside the chicken to create a nice beer steam bath :o)
Sit the beef dripping on top of the chicken, and put into a hot oven 190C, uncovered.
Roast for about 1 hr 50 mins or until cooked (juices run clear.)
Allow to rest for 5-10 minutes. The beer & juices in the can can be incorporated into the gravy, but will probably be pretty strongly beery – depending on size of can and how much you drank – so add to taste.
Carve on the can for added effect. Served with roast potatoes, veg and juices from the pan, this is tasty roast chicken with plenty of humour!
More to…
Mountain Retreats with plenty of space, humour, and cake
Capel-y-ffin
Orange Cake
A little simplification, a little extra orangeness, and this cake has debuted well!
Orange Cake (Serves 6) (Just)
50g margarine
50g caster (fine) sugar
1 small orange
60g self raising flower
1 egg
Icing:
30g butter or margarine
40g raw pale brown sugar
1 small orange
Grease and line the base of a 7″ sandwich tin. Turn your oven to 180C.
The key to this cake, like any sponge, is turning your fat, sugar and eggs in to light fluffiness before you add the flour… so, electric whisk at the ready:
Cream the margarine and sugar together until really light and fluffy. Add the egg and whisk again until light and fluffy.
Beat in the grated rind of the orange. I use a zester tool to get the rind off – feels a bit easier to control than a cheese grater thing.
Juice HALF of the orange and beat that in. (You’ll use the rest in the icing.)
Finally add the flour and either beat briefly or give it another quick whizz with the electric handwhisk.
Pour the mixture into your sandwich tin, roughly level the surface and put it straight in to the oven at 180C. Bake for about 15 minutes until golden on top and springy to touch.
Take it out to cool.
Icing
To make the icing, cream together the butter or marg, sugar, grated rind of the orange, and most of the juice of the spare half orange – just reserve a generous tablespoon to drizzle directly on to the cake.
Once cool, drizzle about a tablespoon of orange juice over the cake then cover with icing.
If your icing comes out a bit flowy (which is easy to happen when adding orange juice), just add some icing sugar or brown sugar till you’ve got a thickness that looks like it might stay on the cake. Alternatively, go with oozy icing, call it Orange Drizzle Cake and provide spoon and fork for eating :o)
A cake to enjoy like wine – scent and taste! You’ll also be left with a naked orange, ideal for an extra shot of truly fresh orange juice.
Welsh Mountain Retreats in the beautiful Black Mountains
Walks, Massage, Space to think, Plenty of Cake