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Smoke Sauna Sisterhood

Watch the full length documentary by clicking above.

Sounds boring--one and a half hours of footage inside a half-lit Estonian smoke sauna listening to women talking while they partake in this ancient tradition of communing and cleansing. Yet this film is anything but boring!

Smoke Sauna Sisterhood is a multi-award winning documentary by Anna Hints that pretty much sums up the experience of womanhood in the most poetic of ways. As viewers, we bear witness as the women share intimacies, speaking about their bodies and their self image, their relationships, and their experiences of growing up in a male oriented, patriarchal society.

Traditionally the Estonian smoke sauna is a sacred, spiritual place that dates back to pre-biblical times--where women give birth, wash the dead, smoke meat and heal. It continues to this day and UNESCO has in fact included the Võrumaa smoke sauna on the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity List.

Smoke Sauna Sisterhood is available on Apple TV and on Amazon. Upon receiving an award from the Sundance Film Festival, Anna Hint said "In Estonia we don't speak too much but we do sing. Here is a song for you."

Miso Black Cod Recipe

Courtesy Eat With Carmen https://www.instagram.com/eatwithcarmen_/

INGREDIENTS

4 pieces of black cod fillets (16 ounces)
¼ cup red miso paste (you can use white miso)
¼ cup sake
¼ cup mirin
¼ cup white sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

*In a small saucepan, on medium heat, heat your sake, mirin, red miso paste, and white sugar.
*Bring to a slight boil and remove from heat after 10 minutes or until your sugar has dissolved. The sauce should be thick.
*Preheat the broiler. Make sure the oven rack is 6 inches away from the broiler.
*Line your baking sheet with foil for easy clean up.
*Place fish onto the tray. Use paper towels to dry the fish.
*Pour half of the sauce on the fish. Broil fish for 3 minutes.
*After 3 minutes, remove the tray and pour the remaining sauce on the fish.
*Put it back under the broiler. Broil for another 8-10 minutes. The fish should be beautifully caramelized.

How To Grow a Chair

Gavin Munro had a lot of time to think as a kid as he lay in and out of a hospital bed, over a period of eight years, to straighten a crooked spine. He had a perfect view from his bed to stare at the forest and the trees. If ever there was a story about making lemonade after being dealt lemons, this is the one.

Today, in Derbyshire, England, Gavin Munro is the proud founder and owner of a business called Full Grown, which is revolutionizing the way we think of manufacturing furniture and collaborating with nature. He is growing trees to make chairs, tables and lamps, coaxing them into workable shapes, forming them into one solid piece, a zen 3-D printing process so to speak. His process, combining art, design and horticulture, uses the least possible intervention with nature in order to get the things we want.

Hear Munro talk about his project here in a Ted Talk.

Photo of the Week

View from my window. Dream come true. Pinching myself.

Charity of the Week:

About The Author

New York City based contemporary artist, Pam Smilow, began writing the creative lifestyle blog “things we love” in an effort to foster a sense of community during times of isolation and reflection. To read more about her and her art, visit her website and check out the essay written by the Hammond Museum's Frank Matheis entitled The Sophisticated Innocence of Pam Smilow.